South Side community college creating training pathway for midwives in Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A new program launched Tuesday for aspiring midwives in Chicago.

The Black Midwifery Collective and Kennedy King College have partnered together to create a training pathway for those wanting to be midwives, while honoring the tradition of Black midwives through history.

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Black women are three times more likely to die from childbirth-related complications. Now, a new midwifery program at Kennedy King College aims to address and reduce the Black maternal mortality rate.

Advocates say midwives are desperately needed in some communities.

"The data from the Illinois Department of Public Health is devastating. It shows that over 90% of maternal deaths among Black women in our state were preventable," Kennedy-King College President Katonja Webb Walker said.

That number is at the heart of the new program designed to increase the number of trained midwives in Illinois.

Star August Ali is the founder of Black Midwifery Collective and says there are currently just five Black licensed midwives in the state.

Ali says this groundbreaking program can help expand access to culturally responsive care to mothers who live in obstetric deserts.

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"This is the fastest way we can get skilled midwives on the ground to be able to address these maternal mortalities, unnecessary death that we see take place," Ali said.

Ali was the midwife for the birth of Roriann Cotton's third child.

Cotton says she wanted a midwife after an experience during a previous pregnancy, where she and another Black patient on the maternity ward were mistaken for each other.

"We were both African American and we got mixed up by the doctors. They came into my room to give me a C-section and they went to her room thinking she was going to be induced," Cotton said.

Malia Robinson, a mother of nine, plans to enroll in the program.

"I see a need for families to have culturally competent care, too. I came to the program hoping to become a midwife for in my community," Robinson said.

Students will complete one semester of pre-requisites followed by six semesters of core midwifery classes.

College leaders say offering the training at a community college enables students to access federal financial aid.

"Together, we are going to save lives; we are going to dismantle disparities, and we are going to transform futures through an exceptional education," Walker said.

The first class is set to begin in the spring of 2027.