Black Midwifery Collective
In the PRESS
Black Midwifery Collective
In the PRESS
2026
Forbes
Monique Rodriguez’s Donation Of $2 Million To BirthFUND Signals Leadership On Maternal Health
The investment will establish the birthFUND Milan Rodriguez Midwifery Scholarship Program at Kennedy-King College on Chicago’s South Side. Created by the Black Midwifery Collective, led by Star August-Ali, in partnership with the college, the multi- year initiative is expected to fund each cohort of student midwives.
(From left to right) Juan Salgado, Chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago, Kennedy-King College President Katonja Webb Walker and Star August Ali, executive director of the Black Midwifery Collective, celebrate the launch of the college’s Licensed Certified Professional Midwifery program. Credit: Provided/Kennedy-King College
2026
Kennedy-King College, Home To Illinois’ 1st Midwife Degree Program, Will Welcome Cohort In Spring
Students in the program at the South Side college will blend classroom learning in a state-of-the-art simulation lab with 24-hour on-call work, as they witness and participate in real births.
2026
Hoodline Chicago
Kennedy-King College Launches Midwifery Degree to Fight South Side Maternal Deaths
Kennedy-King College is set to launch a Licensed Certified Professional Midwifery associate’s degree program, becoming what organizers describe as the 14th accredited direct-entry midwifery program in the country and the first located within a predominantly Black urban community. The program, based at the Englewood campus, is accepting applications for its first cohort now, with classes beginning in spring 2027 and running six semesters.
2026
Kennedy-King to Open Historic Midwifery Program on Chicago’s South Side
The new direct-entry program will create a training pipeline for future midwives in a community where maternal health advocates say access to culturally responsive care remains critically limited.
2026
NBC 5 Chicago
New midwife education program strives to protect Black mothers
As Black women in Illinois continue to face stark disparities in maternal health care, the Black Midwifery Collective and Kennedy-King College are preparing to launch Chicago’s first official direct-entry midwifery program. Christian Farr reports.
2026
Kennedy–King College and the Black Midwifery Collective announce the new Midwife program at KKC
Kennedy–King College (KKC) and the Black Midwifery Collective (BMC) are proud to announce a new program, the Licensed Certified Professional Midwifery at KKC. The new associate degree program represents a collaborative effort with BMC to confront an urgent public health need.
2026
City Colleges of Chicago
Kennedy–King College and the Black Midwifery Collective announce the new Midwife program at KKC
This education program, open to all, will help community members become a licensed Midwife in Illinois
2026
Kennedy-King College and Black Midwifery Collective Launch New Pathway for Chicago’s Next Generation of Midwives
New midwifery program aims to expand career opportunities, honor the legacy of Black midwives and strengthen culturally responsive maternal care
2026
Ebony
What Happens to Black Women’s Minds When a Birth Advocate Dies Newly Postpartum?
A recent tragedy involving a Black midwife in South Carolina heightened the fears many Black women have about pregnancy and childbirth.
Dr. Janell Green. Image Credit: Meta /Janell Green Smith
2026
Illinois Birth Justice Groups Unveil Plan to Expand Access to Maternal Health Care
2025
Black Midwifery Collective & Baby Yams
Fireside Chat with Tatyana Ali in Chicago
An intimate Maternal-Health Monday fireside with Black Midwifery Collective’s founder Star August and actress + advocate Tatyana Ali.
An evening of conversation, culture, and community — with curated bites, signature sips, music, and complimentary parking in Hyde Park.
2025
Chicago-based midwife fights racial disparities in maternal health: "I would like to see a midwife in every neighborhood"
2025
Block Club Chicago
Maternity Care Is Lacking On The South Side. Kennedy-King’s Midwife Program Aims To Change That
Students in the program will train in a state-of-the-art simulation
classroom and earn national certification and state licensure.
(Left) Kennedy-King College President Katonja Webb-Walker and (Right) Star August, founder of the Black Midwifery Collective, are partnering to launch a Midwife Degree Program at the Englewood city college. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago/Provided
2025
Historic Press Release
Black Midwifery Collective, in partnership with Kennedy-King College, announce new Midwifery Program
CHICAGO – (December 1, 2025) Black Midwifery Collective and Kennedy King College are thrilled to announce that their proposal for the first Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) degree program in Illinois has been approved by the Joint Curriculum Development Council (JCDC) of the City Colleges of Chicago, and is on track to begin enrolling students for the Fall 2026 semester.
2025
CAN TV | Behind the confident smile
Who Holds the Mother While She Holds the Baby?
On a very special episode of Behind the Confident Smile, I sit in conversation – and community – with three phenomenal women: Star August Ali, Mary Kay Devine, and Moniqueca Long unpacking the topic: Who’s Holding the mother while she’s holding the baby?
2025
The Intersection Podcast | Where Anti-Racism and Healthcare Meet
Midwifery, at the forefront of reproductive justice
Our founder and executive director Star August Ali (@sisterstarmidwife) joined The Intersection Podcast for a conversation about the evolution of midwifery care and its power to transform maternal health outcomes.
Learn more about the U.S. maternal health landscape and community-led solutions that are advancing person-centered, reproductive care. Tune in at meetattheintersection.org/podcasts #ReproductiveJustice #MaternalHealth
#HealthEquity
2025
Baby Yams
Investing in the Black Midwifery Workforce for Long-Term Sustainability and Impact
2025
Beloved Birth 50 by 50
Black Midwifery Collective becomes organizational partner with Beloved Birth 50 By 50
GOAL: By 2050, 50% of Babies in the US Will Come Into the World With the Care of Midwives.
Today, birth care in the US is failing our babies, our families, and our communities.
The time is now for real solutions, for courage and vision.
2025
Ms. X Groundswell
The Big Beautiful Bill? A Big Bad Blow to Maternity Care
Article by Shariah Sanders
Grassroots midwives and community birthworkers are fighting to protect Black and Indigenous maternal health, while Congress threatens to gut it.
2025
Rolling Out
Star August Ali fights maternal crisis with tradition
Black midwife revives ancestral birth practices as hospital system fails Black mothers at alarming rates
Photo credit: Eddy “Precise” Lamarre
2025
Rolling Out
TACTS honors Henrietta Lacks legacy in Chicago
The TACTS Health & Wellness Networking Social honored Henrietta Lacks while promoting Black leadership and equity in public health
2024
Streetwise Mothers
Pritzker's $23M for birth equity: good 1st step, but more still needed
“I think it’s trying to touch several aspects of birth equity and spreading the resources thin. The positive is that it’s $23 million more than we had,” said Heath, a naturopathic doctor, birth doula, and founding director of NDoula Community Alliance, which seeks to address quality of life gaps in Chicago by increasing access to patient-centered, equitable, integrative health care.
2023
Guardian documentary wins Grierson Award
We are so grateful for this honour! Capturing the compelling stories of Star and Raven was a profound journey, and this award is a tribute to the unwavering resilience of Black women. We are thankful for the recognition and celebration of their inspiring narratives.
2023
Crain’s Chicago Business
Black maternal mortality has reached a crisis level.
Here are the Chicagoans taking steps to stem it. For Star August, the birth of her first son did not go as planned. August hired an out-of-hospital midwife to guide her through the pregnancy but attended checkups in a hospital as a cost-saving measure . . .
2023
The Guardian
With Woman the High Stakes for a Home Birth Midwife in the US
As a result of legislation advocated by Star, since October 2022, after this documentary was filmed, home-birth midwives have been allowed to apply for a license to operate in Illinois. Star is now the first Black certified professional midwife in the state.
2021
StreetWise Mothers
State bill would expand doula care to give Black moms more support
Aimed at reducing Black-white disparity in maternal morbidity and deaths, the legislation would require Medicaid to provide for culturally appropriate, midwife-led, planned homebirth services. It would also expand in-home prenatal and postpartum care and extended doula support across prenatal, delivery and 12 weeks postpartum.
2021
Chicago Tonight | WTTW
Illinois Establishing Midwife License
“The numbers don’t lie. They speak for themselves. Black women are dying at the rate of eight times that of white women, and it’s a scary thought of us going to the hospital knowing that we have a higher percentage, a higher rate of dying than our counterparts,” August said. “So we want a safer option.”
2021
NPR Illinois
Midwives gain a victory in Illinois, but look for more
A 1992 law made traditional midwifery illegal in Illinois — a felony punishable with up to $10,000 in fines or three years in prison. Only nurse midwives are able to provide midwifery services, and in most areas of the state, they’re limited to practicing in hospitals . . .
2021
Chicago Tribune
Midwifery Licensure Expansion in Illinois
Who can be licensed as a midwife in Illinois is likely to expand soon, but critics say lack of Medicaid coverage is a problem
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