Recognizing Black History Month

Anti-racism work—and specifically anti-Black racism work—is legacy and generational work. Black History Month offers an opportunity to reflect not only on the past, but on how history continues to shape present-day systems, professions, and lived experiences. 

In 2026, Black History Month marks 30 years of federal recognition in Canada. This milestone invites both reflection and responsibility—acknowledging the enduring contributions of Black communities while continuing to examine how institutions, policies, and professions can support equity, belonging, and justice today. 

In midwifery, Black history is deeply intertwined with the foundations of reproductive, community-, and family-centred care. Black midwives have long played essential roles in supporting pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care—often practising in the face of exclusion, criminalization, and systemic racism. Recognizing this history helps deepen understanding of the profession today and the possibilities ahead. 

Black midwifery reflects knowledge systems and care practices with deep roots across continents and centuries. In many societies in Africa and Europe, midwives were respected knowledge holders and primary health care providers, supporting pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care within their communities. 

Through migration, settlement, and cultural continuity, these traditions travelled with Black families to what is now Canada. While historical records are incomplete, available evidence and community histories demonstrate that Black midwives carried forward ancestral knowledge and culturally grounded practices that shaped community-based maternity care. 

In Canada, Black midwives played important roles throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly within Black settlements and rural communities. Their care was often essential for families who faced exclusion from, or harm within, predominantly white, male-dominated medical institutions. 

At a time when formal medical care was frequently inaccessible, unsafe, or discriminatory, Black midwives provided skilled, compassionate, and community-responsive care for pregnant people and newborns. Much of this work occurred outside formal recognition, contributing to significant gaps in archival records. 

Emerging scholarship continues to challenge the notion that Black midwifery history in Canada is absent. Research led by scholars such as Dr. Karline Wilson-Mitchell (Toronto Metropolitan University) has begun to uncover hidden histories, documenting Black midwives whose contributions were foundational yet rarely acknowledged within dominant historical narratives. 

Historical evidence situates Black midwives within Black settlements across Canada, including communities in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Identified midwives include, among others, Sylvia Stark of Salt Spring Island, who delivered hundreds of babies and practised into the early 20th century; Mattie Mayes of Saskatchewan’s Eldon district; and practitioners such as Catherine “Chuckie” (Grey Roots), Esther Rowan, and Dilla Smith. Many were described in their communities as “baby catchers,” grand midwives, or elder midwives—roles reflecting traditional naming rather than formal titles. 

Dr. Wilson-Mitchell and her research team have identified at least 11 midwives who migrated to Canada between the 1800s and 1960, originating from the Caribbean and the United States, through research spanning only four provinces. Their work suggests that Black midwifery in Canada was far more widespread than historical records alone indicate, and that these midwives embodied African ancestral traditions adapted to local community contexts. 

As modern obstetrics expanded in Canada during the 20th century, midwifery was increasingly marginalized. Regulatory changes, professionalization, and restrictive licensing frameworks contributed to the erosion of community-based midwifery practice. These shifts disproportionately affected Black midwives, whose work often fell outside emerging professional norms and credentialing systems. 

While documentation varies by province and period, many Black midwives experienced exclusion from formal practice, loss of professional recognition, and the gradual disappearance of their work from official records. These changes disrupted intergenerational knowledge transmission and reflected broader patterns of racial exclusion within health care and public policy. 

The impacts of this history remain evident today, including ongoing inequities in maternal and infant health outcomes and barriers to culturally safe maternity care. At the same time, these histories reveal long traditions of resilience, social innovation, and community-led advocacy. 

One such story, shared through the Colour of Birth project, is that of Veronica Tyrrell, a Guyana-born, British-trained midwife who later practised as a registered nurse in Canada. As recounted by her son, Andrew Tyrrell, her midwifery training and expertise were not recognized within the Canadian health system. Like many Black immigrant midwives, she encountered racialized dismissal and exclusion from practice, despite her extensive skills and experience. She played a pivotal role in establishing midwifery as a recognized profession.

In recent decades, there has been renewed recognition of the role Black midwives play in advancing reproductive justice and improving outcomes for Black families in Canada. Black-led organizations are reclaiming traditional knowledge, advocating for policy change, and supporting the education, sustainability, and leadership of Black midwives and birth workers. 

In Canada, this work includes organizations such as the Black Midwives Alliance , which supports Black midwives and traditional birth workers through education, advocacy, and community-based care, a long-standing organization focused on culturally grounded midwifery and reproductive health education; and the National Association to Advance Black Birth , which works to advance Black birth equity and strengthen the Black maternal health workforce. 

Across Canada, Black-led and Black-centred initiatives continue to address inequities in maternal health through culturally grounded, community-based models of care. Projects such as The Black Birth Project , Ancestral Hands Midwives , and CommUnity Doulas  centre lived experience while responding directly to the needs of Black families. 

National and community-driven efforts, including Black Maternal Health Collective Canada  and the Canadian Women of Colour Leadership Network , contribute to research, advocacy, and policy conversations shaping the future of maternal health in Canada. 

Emerging research initiatives, such as The Canadian Midwives of Colour History Project , further deepen this understanding by documenting the presence and contributions of midwives of colour in Canada as early as the 1800s—helping situate contemporary efforts within a longer, often overlooked history. 

Together, these efforts reflect both continuity and innovation within Black midwifery traditions, linking ancestral knowledge with contemporary approaches to education, care, and systems change. 

This history is not distant. It continues through today’s students, practitioners, and future midwives who shape the profession with care, intention, and vision. 

As part of Black History Month, and alongside the relaunch of UBC Midwifery’s IBPOC Mentors Network, UBC Midwifery will be sharing reflections from Black midwifery students. Their voices speak to both legacy and possibility—to the futures they are building within midwifery and the communities they hope to serve. 

Mentorship plays an important role in supporting belonging, confidence, and sustainability within midwifery education and practice, particularly for students from historically marginalized communities.  

The relaunch of the IBPOC Mentors Network reflects UBC Midwifery’s ongoing commitment to fostering connection, shared learning, and mutual support among students and practising midwives. By strengthening mentorship pathways, the program aims to support students throughout their training and into professional practice. 

This work is supported by ongoing learning and reflection within the program, including a newly curated collection of anti-racism and cultural safety education resources developed by UBC Midwifery, drawing on training from UBC, regulatory bodies, and health system partners. These resources are intended to support critical engagement, self-reflection, and respectful practice across diverse learning and care environments.