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The CNMA Board of Directors (BOD) is proud to announce the creation of The Anti-Racism Committee and Workgroup of the BOD. The aim of this committee is to work towards addressing structural racism within CNMA and developing opportunities to redress the harm caused by racism within midwifery and our larger community.
The CNMA Board of Directors is committed to being part of the solution towards eliminating race-based disparities in maternal child health and reproductive health. We recognize that this work includes, among other things, addressing structural racism and implicit bias within our own organization, improving the racial diversity of our profession, and working to change policies to ensure equitable access to midwifery for all pregnant people, including removal of physician supervision.
The anti-racism group formed in mid-December, it is a formal committee and workgroup of the CNMA board and one current member is a voting CNMA board member. In order to help us achieve inclusiveness and diversification, we have designed a structure where members and non-members can be involved in this work. We are in the process of developing formal bylaws and including changes that will allow the committee chair to be a voting member of the board.
The committee has begun to lay the foundation for this work and has already had some initial successes including:
Working with ACNM to support this work by offering scholarships for committee leadership to attend the ACNM conference.
Ensuring a dynamic speaker for our Annual meeting prepared to address issue of racism in reproductive health care
Supporting CNMA to cosponsoring SB 464 The California Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act which mandate implicit bias training for all hospitals and birth centers.
The near future direction of the work includes:
Involvement in supporting the recruitment of midwives of color for CNMA board of director roles as new positions open up.
Providing anti-racism training to CNMA BOD and members.
Working on opportunities increasing the number of CNMs of color.
For those interested in learning more about this work we recommend reading the following ACNM documents that are informing this work:
The Anti-Racism Committee and Workgroup work is guided by the framework of Reproductive Justice, for more information on Reproductive Justice we recommend:
Sincerely,
Kathleen Belzer
CNMA President
Meet Lisa Davis, Chair of the new Anti-Racism and Reproductive Justice Committee
CONTACT
Lisa Davis and the Anti-Racism and Reproductive Justice Committee can be reached by email at arrj@cnma.org
Link to our full board of directors and committee chairs HERE.