About
Discussions with local Indigenous midwives– and our own experience with the challenges Indigenous midwifery apprentices face in being able to fully participate in their training– reflect a challenging reality that few BIPOC students complete the current colonial model for midwifery training, often experiencing multiple levels of harm through the process. There is a need for short- and long-term strategies to support students on their journey to completion– a short-term harm reduction strategy for current students and a longer-term strategy for creating a de-colonial BIPOC-centered model that serves to rematriate midwifery.
CWI is embracing the opportunity to replace the individualistic and paternalistic model with one based on rematriation. Although there are multiple pathways to midwifery licensure in NM, often only the privileged few can reach completion due to numerous systemic barriers. The gap has only widened as a result of the pandemic. Students generally enter into a model that is not equipped to support them and, even more so, will likely lead to harm. Therefore, there is a need to implement harm-reduction strategies for students currently engaged in their midwifery training and to create a BIPOC-centered model to serve students into the future. CWI is in the process of developing a more robust and sustainable decolonized apprenticeship model: