Join Our
Inspiring
Opening Ceremony
Sunday May 5, 2024
"In Their Hands: Honoring the Lives & Legacies of the Grand Midwives”
CALLING ALL MIDWIVES!!
Join us for the virtual kickoff of the National Postpartum Awareness Week (PAW) for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) 2024.
The opening ceremony for our week-long virtual series will take place on the “International Day of the Midwife”, and we will be celebrating the present-day contributions of midwives of color who are serving mothers, birthing people, babies and families across the nation and around the globe. Whether they are lay midwives, certified midwives, nurse midwives, or indigenous midwives, ALL of these powerful practitioners are invaluable to ensuring safe pregnancy and postpartum outcomes for BIPOC communities in the US and abroad.
During this community convening, we will engage in ritual, ceremony, artistry and dialogue to demonstrate the impact that BIPOC midwives have in reproductive healthcare. We will hear the voices of those who have devoted their lives to providing holistic, respectful and compassionate care during the most sacred time in a person’s life; pregnancy, birthing and postpartum. We will pay special attention to the legacy of Grand Midwives (“Granny” Midwives) and Indigenous Midwives around the world, to honor them as chief knowledge bearers of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care for BIPOC communities. In these times when hospitals are inaccessible and/or unwilling to serve marginalized, racialized and under-resourced communities equitably, the role of the midwife and the unique skills and gifts that they possess, provides vital support before, during, and after childbirth.
Today, as we face ongoing disparities in postpartum care, midwifery—one of the oldest professions in the world—remains a beacon of hope. Let’s come together to recognize midwives, their wisdom, and their power to transform what competent and compassionate care looks like in the 4th trimester. #MidwivesSaveLives #InternationalDayOfTheMidwife