Midwifery's Diversity Problem Hits Spotlight
Posted almost 10 years ago by Nicholas M Perrino
"The United States Midwifery Education, Regulation and Association (US MERA) is facing allegations of racial exclusion for giving an intentional cold shoulder to the only autonomous organization that represents the interests of midwives of color.
The claims concern the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC), a nonprofit, professional midwifery and doula association for women of color established in 1991 in Portland, Ore. ICTC and its founder and president, Shafia Monroe, have a respected track record of supporting and promoting midwives and doulas of color.
Despite a long history of midwifery in the black community, black women currently represent less than 2 percent of the nation's reported 15,000 midwives.
For years, midwives, who were mostly black, were a central part of birthing in this country. In the early 20th century, as birth became more medicalized, the obstetrics-gynecology specialty sought to advance and secure professional boundaries."