Tanya Khemet Taiwo Midwifery Student Scholarship Fund

Recognizing the transformational power of concordant care, the impact of limited access for Black and Indigenous people to Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) care, and the acute lack of diversity in the CPM workforce, NACPM is investing in the systemic changes and the direct student aid needed to open pathways for more Black and Indigenous midwives to enter the profession and opportunities for them to build and sustain their midwifery practices.

The Tanya Khemet Taiwo Midwifery Student Scholarship Fund is an initiative to grow the number of Black and Indigenous midwives in the CPM workforce. Specifically, the Fund provides support for tuition and related educational expenses to second and third year Black and Indigenous midwifery students enrolled in programs accredited by the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC). Typically, recipients are each awarded a $5,000 scholarship.

This Fund is a celebration of the legacy of Dr. Tanya Khemet Taiwo, as NACPM’s longest-serving Black Woman on NACPM’s Board of Directors, as well as an exemplary community health innovator, epidemiologist, researcher, and midwifery educator. Tanya, who comes from a family tradition of midwives, joined the NACPM Board of Directors in the fall of 2012 because of her commitment to bringing the midwifery model of care to the medically underserved and those most at risk for poor birth outcomes.  Tanya served as Board Secretary from 2012 to 2014, as Co-President from 2015 to 2017, and as President from 2018 until Fall of 2021.

NACPM launched this fund in 2022 in Tanya’s name as an acknowledgement of her commitment to eradicating inequities in birth outcomes for Black and Indigenous birthing people and their babies in the U.S. Since 2022, 96 students have applied for the scholarship and $82,500 has been distributed! Additionally, the Fund expands upon NACPM’s history in supporting midwifery students from communities most in need of midwifery care through our Bigger Table Fund, which has provided $79,575 to 95 midwives since 2018!