NBMA BLACK MIDWIFE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
The purpose of the Black Midwife Mentorship Program is to nurture strong relationships between student midwives and professional midwife mentors while advancing the strong legacy of intergenerational learning in the midwifery community.
By connecting student midwives to knowledgeable and experienced midwife mentors, we hope to accomplish several goals:
1) Advance the midwifery model of care and facilitate the mentorship and engagement of aspiring Black midwives who plan to address health disparities in their work;
2) Provide students with strong lifelines to the profound wisdom and legacy of Black midwifery; and
3) Facilitate an intergenerational transfer of knowledge and skills where our elders have the opportunity to pass down their knowledge, instill important values, and celebrate their impact.
PROGRAM DETAILS
All student midwives must fill out an application to be accepted into the program. Your responses will help us determine the best mentee-mentor match to support you in your midwifery journey.
If selected, you will be required to join NBMA as a student member.
(Student membership dues are $25 per year.)
The Black Midwife Mentorship Program lasts for six months, from June/July to November/December of each year. Mentors and Mentees communicate in some form of live session (phone, FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, etc.) at least once a month, but we encourage more than one session per month. Mentors and mentees are encouraged to use all the tools available to them to facilitate a consistent connection (Marco Polo, WhatsApp, etc.). Occasionally, when possible, a mentee may be matched with a mentor that lives or works in the same geographical area as the mentee and have the opportunity to conduct their meetings in person if they choose. Please note that although this does and can happen, the majority of mentorships take place virtually.
Mentees are also invited to attend a series of virtual mentee meetings, presentations, and Study Halls throughout the program. These are typically held once a month and provide opportunities for mentees to engage with each other, form community, share information, and support one another.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at nbmamentorship@gmail.com!
MENTORS
If you are interested in serving as a NBMA mentor, please email us at nbmamentorship@gmail.com