Midwifery stands at the intersection of clinical care, cultural tradition, and community trust. Yet, the global development of the midwifery workforce has too often mirrored inequities found across health systems, where Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are underrepresented in formal leadership, under-resourced in training pathways, and undervalued despite generations of knowledge and practice.

The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM) recently learned of the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council’s (MEAC’s) decision to withdraw from recognition by the U.S. Department of Education. Neither NARM nor NACPM participated in or had advance notice of that decision.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Greetings from Lisbon, Portugal, where more than 3,000 midwives from around the world have gathered for the 34th Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).

I come before you very humbly because I believe many of us feel this tension every single day in our work. We feel the divide within midwifery. We feel the pressure to choose a side.

This May, NACPM made history. Our first-ever virtual conference, “Centering Midwives, Restoring Care,” brought together midwives, students, birth workers, funders, advocates, and allies from across the country for two transformative days of learning, connection, and community.

Too many women still die from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth. Skilled care before, during, and after birth can save lives — and midwives are best placed to provide it. Achieving universal coverage of midwife-delivered interventions by 2035 could avert 67% of these deaths. But, the world is short one million midwives. We need urgent action to grow, support, and sustain the global midwifery workforce. This #IDM2026, sign the global petition calling on policymakers for #OneMillionMore

The word “advocacy”, while by definition encompasses an action, can mean many things to different people. I would like to speak to the intention of the why perinatal advocacy is critical to the improvement of perinatal health disparities, and highlight examples of how you can step in, too.

The word “advocacy”, while by definition encompasses an action, can mean many things to different people. I would like to speak to the intention of the why perinatal advocacy is critical to the improvement of perinatal health disparities, and highlight examples of how you can step in, too.

On the plane to Washington, I read bell hooks. Her essay Killing Rage met me where I was. She writes about the particular fury that lives in the body of the oppressed. The rage that we are taught to swallow, to soften, to share only at home among our own. She asks a question I have been turning over ever since: can rage, when connected to our passion for justice, be healthy? Can it heal?

We have asked politely. We have asked strategically. We have asked in legal terminology and legislative language.

Community-based midwives in Georgia have been asking for licensure since 1991. Initially the state of Georgia said “No”, stating that the maternal mortality rate would surely go up. Unfortunately, that rate did go up because midwives were not accessible.

“It is always our goal to make teachers of our students.”

In 2016, less than two years into my independent midwifery practice, I began apprenticing with the Dakota master quillwork artists David and Merna Lewis. The pair had spent years revitalizing the art: learning from their own elders, looking at old books, combing through museum archives, trying to figure out how certain techniques were done by our ancestors. In other words, they had done a lifetime’s worth of revitalization work so that their students wouldn’t have to. So that their students could go farther than they had.

Collective Power & Collective Voice in Continuing the Legacy of Midwifery
By: Lisa Gendron, LM, CPM

As midwives embedded in and working within our communities, CPMs are often called to examine our relationship to those communities — especially in times of social, economic, and cultural change. Over the past five years, we have been required to approach community-based midwifery with greater creativity, dynamism, compassion, and groundedness.

We’re thrilled to announce NACPM’s first-ever virtual conference, “Centering Midwives, Restoring Care,” taking place May 20–21, 2026. This two-day, immersive, virtual experience will bring together leading voices across clinical care, education, advocacy, research, equity, and systems change.

Join MMHLA on March 10 for National Day of Action for Maternal Mental Health: Virtual Congressional Meetings.

This once-a-year event is an opportunity to join forces with people from across the country to meet (via Zoom) with federal elected officials in support of maternal mental health programs that serve thousands of moms in the U.S. every year.

As NACPM steps into 2026, we are guided by a bold and necessary question: What foundations must be in place for a future where CPMs are widely available and fully integrated across the country?