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.  

Charged with the mission of diversifying the maternity workforce and establishing “a midwife in every  neighborhood,” Black Midwifery Collective compiled extensive documentation on the potential  positive impact of a Certified Professional Midwife Program in Chicago. They joined forces with the  Kennedy King faculty and staff, providing the college with a curriculum designed to meet national  midwifery standards as set by the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC), allowing  graduates to achieve national certification as well as state licensure.  

This affordable and accessible midwifery program will be located on the South Side of Chicago, a  neighborhood designated as a “perinatal care desert,” meaning it has limited to no access to maternal  health providers and facilities. Specific neighborhoods experiencing these severe access disparities  include: 

• Englewood 
• Washington Park 
• South Shore 
• Auburn Gresham 
• Roseland 
• South Chicago

The college has dedicated staff, faculty and financial support, and is currently designing one of the  most state-of-the-art midwifery simulation classroom. “By expanding access to midwifery education  on the South Side, we’re ensuring that new mothers have choices and more supportive care for  themselves and their babies,” said President Katonja Webb-Walker. “It’s an honor to prepare the next  generation of midwives to serve where they’re needed most—and to help them enter such a deeply  meaningful profession, one where they will surely find success.”  

CPMs are educated to independently provide community-based maternity care in home and birth  center settings. Those looking to enroll in the program will complete one semester of prerequisite  general education courses, followed by two years of core midwifery classes. Doula and lactation  consultant certification are include in the program. Student midwives will satisfy the clinical portion of  their education within midwifery practices in the greater Chicago area – and currently practicing  midwives have lined up to support the project.  

Kennedy King and Black Midwifery Collective look forward to achieving the shared goal of providing  learning opportunities and support to students pursuing education and employment as licensed CPM  midwives in order to meet the needs of underserved populations by providing culturally-congruent  community-based care.  

The multi-year effort to bring midwifery education to Kennedy King, the city college with the highest percentage of black students, has been made possible by support on many fronts. State legislators who championed BMC’s cause include Mary Flowers, Curtis Tarver II, and Lakesia Collins. Multiple faculty and staff members from Kennedy King took on extra assignments to work on the program; in particular, Professor TS Douglas went above and beyond in her efforts to fine-tune the curriculum and bring it to the district. 

A special thank-you goes to Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which organized for program placement in the southside community, as well as to actress, advocate, and Baby Yams founder Tatyana Ali for her steadfast support. The Black Midwifery Collective extends deep gratitude to the grant funders who believed in its vision and rallied to make this project possible. Direct support for this initiative was provided by the Skyline Foundation, the Trotula Fund, and the Michael Reese Health Trust. Additional thanks go to the funders whose general operating support strengthened BMC’s work over the past three years, including the Irving Harris Foundation, the Ms. Foundation for Women, Crossroads Fund, Groundswell Fund, the Chicago Foundation for Women, the Summer Oaks Fund, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and the Cook County Justice Advisory Council. 

“This collaboration is what real impact looks like—it is a powerful blueprint for directing our efforts where they are most needed, and driving true systems change. This historic installation of the first accredited direct-entry midwifery program within an urban public college creates a pipeline for those who want to serve as community midwives,” said Star August, founder and executive director of the Black Midwifery Collective. “This model will be positively disruptive in the most meaningful ways for the communities we serve. By strategically leveraging opportunities to advance and diversify the midwifery profession, our partnership will significantly expand Chicago’s maternal support ecosystem and lay the groundwork for a replicable, systems-level model capable of transforming maternal health outcomes across the country.”