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12/14/2020

Greetings Community,

I hope this message finds you in good health and spirits. I want to thank you for entering this space. I would love to share some the BIPOC Aspiring Midwives Program’s, background, inspiration, and areas of desired growth. In the United States greater than 90 percent of the midwives are white. Part of the racial disparity is a result of systemic racism resulting in barriers to midwifery exposure and lack of support on the journey to desired educational routes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. This can be different, BIPOC Aspiring Midwives Program is one effort to make it so. The pilot program’s mission is to support BIPOC aspiring midwives on their individual journey to an education in midwifery through shadowing, mentorship, & community building.

In 2018 BIPOC Aspiring Midwives was organically born as a direct response to shadowing requests from folx who were strongly considering a midwifery education, but lacked in person exposure to the profession because traditional available opportunities like volunteering hours to being a doula or traveling to a different country for experiences were unattainable privileges. I worked to develop the program during my free time while maintaining a full time job and raising my beautiful kid DJ. Over two years I volunteered to create the structure and run all parts of the program, including providing over 140 hours of shadowing experience for aspiring midwives at my clinical site, 1:1 mentorship to greater than 10 people at varying stages of their journey to midwifery, and created community sharing opportunities. The program has received greater than 20 applications from BIPOC aspiring midwives.

March of this year I was named the first midwife to be awarded the UCSF Watson Scholarship. I have dedicated the scholarship to this pilot and at the end of September shifted clinical time to center this pilot program’s development and expansion needs. This year the program’s goals are to

  1. Create partnerships with Bay Area sites for shadowing opportunities beyond SFGH

  2. Strengthen the mentorship model by collaboration with midwifery programs and midwives

  3. Expend mentorship opportunities beyond myself by on-board additional BIPOC California midwives as mentors for Bay Area BIPOC Aspiring Midwives

  4. Sharing project through presentations

Additionally I will be sharing ongoing efforts on a quarterly basis via a newsletter, if you are interested in following the program’s journey, please subscribe below.

With love, respect, solidarity, and humility,

Asmara Gebre, RN, CNM

 
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“For years growing up I never really saw people who looked like me as doctors or nurses or anyone in the health care system. So, it was hard for me, someone who's identity was different. I had mentors growing up however, since they could not understand what in mean's to be me in today's society they were unable to truly help and guide me. Having a mentor who identifies as BIPOC is empowering because there is that sense of connection and being able to see someone that looks like me.”

— BIPOC Aspiring Midwife, 2020