Meet NACPM Bigger Table Fund Recipient , Catrice Harris

Catrice Harris, a recent graduate of National College of Midwifery, is one of the most recent recipients of NACPM’s Bigger Table Fund Award.

NACPM’s Bigger Table Fund is a scholarship initiative to help grow a racially, ethnically and socially representative CPM workforce to meet the urgent needs of childbearing people in our country.  

We asked Catrice to tell us a bit about her midwifery journey . She explains, “My midwifery journey began about 6 years ago, after I had been working as a doula for about 8 years. I saw so many hospital processes turn a beautiful birth experience into an unnecessary medical procedure. Far too often, women were not dignified in the process, but were instead treated as if they were broken in many ways and needed be fixed. As a doula my hands were tied, and I wanted very badly to help affect change. After an accidental home birth with a doula client, I realized healthy babies "just get born", and I wanted to be a part of more experiences like that. That began my quest for the right education, and the right mentorship.”

Catrice will be working with all low risk women in the Houston and surrounding areas, with a special focus on improving the morbidity and mortality rates of Black women and babies. She hopes to one day own a birth and education center offering a community and services for pregnant, as well as non-pregnant women. These services will include a variety of classes, and holistic care options.

The Bigger Table Fund provides financial awards for student midwives of color, Indigenous and/or LGBTQIA2S+ student midwives for:

  • the initial NARM examination fee

  • the fee for retaking the NARM examination when needed

  • one-time initial state licensing fees

The goal of the Fund is to remove some of the significant financial barriers faced by students and midwives of color and from Indigenous and LGBTQIA2S+ communities to entering the CPM profession.  This Fund is an NACPM response to direct community requests and feedback and from “Women of Color Entering Midwifery”, an assessment of unmet needs, by Nancy Anderson, MD, MPH, commissioned by NACPM.   Recognizing the impact of limited access for people of color to CPM care and the acute lack of diversity and representation in the midwifery workforce, NACPM is committed to investing in the systemic changes and direct support needed to open pathways for more Black, Indigenous, LGBTQIA2S+, and other midwives of color to enter the profession, and for opportunities for midwives of color to build and sustain their midwifery practices.  

  • $3000 is distributed quarterly, according to a lottery system.  

  • The maximum individual award is $1,000.  

To learn more and to apply, visit https://www.nacpm.org/the-bigger-table-fund.