About Legacy Birth Academy
Legacy Birth Academy is increasing accessibility to culturally affirming care, diversifying the birth workforce, and thereby helping to improve the quality and safety of care of BIPOC people in community settings. The efforts of Legacy Birth Academy are based on its 5E model: Engage, Educate, Empower, Encourage, and Excel.
Engage
Providing a safe space for aspiring midwives and birth workers of color to engage with BIPOC midwives, CNMs and CPMs, from various backgrounds and geographic locations that are actively providing services in their communities. Each training session includes 2-3 midwives of color. Students are co-located in the same house as the midwives and are able to get to know them on a more personal level and ask any questions they may have.
Educate
Education is the focal point of the training sessions. Through didactic education, skills training, demonstrations and simulations, students are provided with essential skills for serving families in out-of-hospital settings.
Empower
Throughout the training, the Legacy Birth Academy instructors seek to build confidence in the students, chipping away at the inner, sometimes external, voices that tell them they can’t be what their heart and soul tell them that they are and can be. In doing so, they are better able to take control over their own lives and situations, especially regarding their journeys as birth workers.
Encourage
Students are encouraged to pursue positions in their communities and to consider careers in midwifery. Our instructors are available to assist the students on their search for local midwives to work with. Different paths to midwifery are discussed to ensure that students know their options should they decide to consider a career in midwifery.
Excel
Legacy Birth Academy prepares students to excel in their skills. After the training weekend, support is available for the students to contact us with any questions they may have regarding information provided in the training or that may come up while they are serving a client. There is also an online Facebook group where they can ask questions of their peers, celebrate each other’s successes and learn about other educational and scholarship opportunities.
Be the Change
Whether you’re ready to train with us, support our mission, or contribute to birth justice, there’s a place for you in our community. Take a training, get involved, or make a donation today and help us create a future where midwifery is accessible, holistic, and rooted in culture and care. Apply or give now!