As multiple birth centers plan to open their doors in the coming years, there is a critical need to prepare the midwifery workforce–with skills and confidence in providing birth care outside the hospital. To address this need, the BEE Collaborative will develop educational materials for midwives who are interested in transitioning to caring for birthing people in a community setting.

We are currently working with community birth experts to develop an education plan and materials to support MA midwives in preparing for more community birth in MA. 

Birthworkers experience high levels of insufficiently addressed trauma and burnout throughout their careers. The BEE Collaborative is partnering with the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) to develop online resources to support psychosocial well-being for Massachusetts midwives. Through this partnership with BCSSW, the BEE Collaborative will coordinate supportive groups using evidence-based and trauma-informed approaches to support MA midwives.

We are currently working closely with colleagues at BCSSW and engaging practicing midwives to create the online resources and to plan for rollout of the support groups. 

The BEE Collaborative is coordinating Caring for the Caregiver mini-grants to be awarded directly to birthworkers in Massachusetts who have ideas for improving their practice environments and supporting the birth workforce. Priority will be given to proposals that focus on racial justice and birthworker well-being in MA practice environments. The BEE Collaborative is aware of how much the birth workforce does to support birthing people in MA – and emphasizes that these grants must be focused on caring for the caregiver, rather than patient care. 

We are excited to share more details and open the proposal process in May. Please check back soon for more details! 

The BEE Collaborative is partnering with Mattapan Community Health Center (MCHC) to adapt and deliver a midwifery-led model of group care tailored for the refugee/migrant population that MCHC serves. In the third year of this project, MCHC will also precept midwifery students from Boston College’s Master of Science in Nurse-Midwifery program who will gain skills in coordination of group care for diverse populations. 

Our partners at MCHC are currently planning for the first cohort to participate in the midwifery-led prenatal group care at MCHC. 

The BEE Collaborative will be a hub for networking and community building among birthworkers in MA. This will include an annual retreat, community dinners, and a speaker series – all of which will facilitate sharing of birthworker knowledge and experiences across professional and geographic communities in the greater Boston area. Through this activity, the BEE Collaborative envisions a more connected and supported birth workforce. 

See our event page for more information about upcoming events and retreats! 

The BEE Collaborative will co-create a mentorship program with practicing midwives of color in the Boston area for student midwives of color at Boston College and early career midwives of color in MA. This mentorship program will train and pair practicing midwives of color with midwifery students and early career midwives of color. Mentors will equip mentees with the network, guidance on career navigation, professional and emotional support, confidence and a sense of community to excel in their practice as midwives and support their well-being. 

We are currently developing training materials for future mentors, modeled after the Midwifery Mentoring and Belonging (MMB) program developed at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), in collaboration with practicing midwives of color in the Boston area.

Midwifery practice directors play an important role in shaping the midwifery practice environments across the state. The BEE Collaborative is supporting practice directors by facilitating monthly gatherings to problem solve together, share lessons, and identify opportunities for collaboration across practices. The BEE Collaborative will also be offering professional coaching for this group of midwifery leaders. 

We are currently setting up our calendar of gatherings and coaching sessions for this group. If you are a midwifery practice director in MA and you haven’t heard from us yet, please connect with us! You can email Kate Mitchell Balla at mitchka@bc.edu and Claire Gonzalez at gonzacli@bc.edu. 

The BEE Collaborative at Boston College Connell School of Nursing (CSON) is creating a racial justice and birth equity graduate-level course for the CSON Master of Science in Nurse-Midwifery Program. The course will initially be rolled out with the inaugural class of Nurse-Midwifery students at BC and will eventually be adapted as a continuing education course for a wider audience of birthworkers. 

We are currently completing a robust landscape analysis and engaging with experts around the country to better understand existing curriculum and approaches to training the birth workforce in the areas of racial justice, reproductive justice, and birth equity. In the process, we are engaging undergraduate research fellows who are supporting the landscape analysis and gaining essential research skills.