Webinar Highlights History of Black Midwives and Nurses
A webinar held today, "Pushed to the Margins, Built for Greatness," explored the legacy and contributions of Black nurses and midwives in the U.S. The session focused on their role as innovators and architects of community care, particularly in the face of systemic racism and professional barriers. The historical context is presented as foundational for advancing health equity in modern maternal care.
- In the early 20th century, midwives, many of whom were Black, attended about half of all births in the U.S. Following a campaign by the medical establishment to professionalize childbirth, that number fell to 15% by 1930. - Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first professionally licensed Black nurse in the United States in 1879. In 1908, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) to combat discrimination and advocate for Black nurses. - The Lincoln School for Nurses in the Bronx, New York, was founded in 1898 specifically to train Black women who were barred from other nursing schools. Before it closed in 1961, the school graduated 1,864 nurses. - The legacy of pushing Black practitioners to the margins is reflected in modern health disparities; in 2023, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than three times the rate of 14.5 for white women. - Studies show that integrating midwives into healthcare systems is associated with better birth outcomes, including lower rates of cesarean sections and preterm births. - To address these disparities, the federal government has advanced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, a package of 12 bills to fund community-based organizations, grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, and improve data collection. - The demand for midwives
