On this webpage, you'll find an application form to apply. The application requires a $50 fee to be accepted and processed. Applicaitons are open from December 21, 2025-March 23, 2026 or once the cohort is filled.

Applications Now closed
Applications reopen December 21, 2027-March 23, 2028

Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™

Q: What other program requirements are there?

Future midwives of OSTM must live close to the St. Louis, MO area to attend in-person sessions or must be able to travel once a month for in-person sessions. Future midwives of OSTM must have access to reliable transportation, reliable WIFI and a PC or Laptop.

Q: I don't live in St. Louis, can I complete the course virtually?

No, Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™ is invested in graduating highly skilled, thoroughly educated, culturally embodied, and clinically informed midwives through a lineage based framework, which can only take place with consistent, communal, in-person participation.

Q: How is this different from a one-week or one-month program?

Short-term programs offer exposure. This program offers formation-in over two years, students receive consistent instruction, accountability, mentorship, and time to integrate learning into practice, something that cannot happen in a compressed retreat form format or clinical only academic midwifery course.

Q: Can I still become a CPM through this program?

Yes. The academic curriculum is designed to align with NARM PEP educational requirements. Clinical requirements may extend beyond the two-year academic period if needed, which is common across CPM pathways.

Q: Are scholarships available?

Yes. Each cohort includes 10 full scholarships, with 10 additional partial scholarships covering books and supplies.

Missouri’s first Black-founded midwifery school, training future midwives through holistic, community-based care. We are reclaiming the tradition of community trained midwives, while restoring power and autonomy to families.

Full Scholarhips for OSTM are funded by a multi-year grant via Chicago Beyond. Partial Midwifery Book and Supply scholarships are provided by the Global Folk Midwife Foundation™.

We are honored to announce open applications for the Founding Cohort of Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery™

A two-year, lineage-based, midwifery education program, rooted in global Indigenous midwifery knowledge, culturally embodied community care, and rigorous clinical preparation.

APPLY TODAY TO JOIN OUR 2nd COHORT

MISSION

Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery™ exists to restore, preserve, and transmit global indigenous and community-based midwifery knowledge through rigorous education, elder mentorship, and accountable practice. We prepare midwives to serve families, not institutions, while honoring lineage, cultural integrity, and the sacred responsibility of attending birth.

IN PERSON LEARNING

OSTM offers monthly in-person learning, with quarterly in-person learning intensives led by elder midwives and cultural educators.

REMOTE GUIDANCE

OSTM offers weekly remote learning with global midwifery educators, offering guidance, mentorship and peer study sessions for a well rounded education.

HANDS ON SKILL AND INTENSIVES

Through the The Historic Jamaa Birth Village Cultural Heritage Center's-Equal Access Midwifery Clinic-future midwives will learn midwifery skills in-person.

DUAL CERTIFICATION

Graduates of OSTM will receive Traditional Midwifery certification through the Folk Midwife™ designation, and are also prepared to sit for the NARM exam, to become a CPM via the PEP process.

Program Overview

Application

overview of okunsola's school of traditional midwifery

Purpose

Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery ™ was founded in 2022, after receiving permission and blessings from a group of esteemed Midwife elders at the Alabama Black Midwives Conference. It was at this conference, that founder Okunsola M. Amadou received the blessings and permission to proceed in opening OSTM, to grow a lineage of midwives who embody the skill, knowledge, wisdom and practice as spiritual, clinical, communal and cultural midwives-to serve modern families of today.

Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™ exists today to honor and bring back the traditional ways of passing on midwifery knowledge, wisdom and skill to those entrusted to carry the sacred legacy of midwifery forward.

Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™ answers the call of returning midwifery back to its origins, while aslo responding to the over-industrialization, commercialization, and fragmentation of midwifery education. While short-term retreats and systemic based trainings have proliferated, they often remove midwifery from its communal, relational, and ancestral lineage based roots. We're here to reclaim, restore and root the sacred origins of midwifery forward.

APPLY TODAY TO JOIN OUR 2nd COHORT

Midwifery education designed to:

Re-center midwifery education as a sacred, cultural, communal process, and not solely medical or clinical training
Restore elder midwifery authority and lineage-based transmission
Prepare midwives to work with communities and not over them
Merge traditional midwifery with modern realities, without collapsing one into the other
Form midwives who are accountable, grounded, and culturally embodied

This is a School for those willing to move slowly, study deeply, and carry responsibility for life through ancestral ways.

Midwifery Curriculum Structure

Each trimester includes integrated virtual and in-person taught courses, led by elders, traditional & certified midwives, and experienced instructors. Courses combine theory, metaphysics, clinical modalities, history, skill development, reflection, and community accountability. It is a requirement to attend in-person classes. OSTM values in-depth, rigorous in-person midwifery education, skill and passing on of knowledge, and does not offer virtual-only training options.

In-person weekends focus on:

Hands-on skills and embodiment
Clinical integration
Ritual, ceremony, and ancestral grounding
Peer learning and cohort cohesion

Virtual instruction supports:

Core midwifery knowledge
Case studies and applied learning
Historical, cultural, and spiritual foundations
Preparation for the Folk Midwife™ and CPM academic requirements

ready to learn more about okunsola's traditional midwifery school?

For those interested in learning more about Okunsola's Traditional Midwifery School for the 2nd cohort lineage, before applying, "Virtual Interest Circles" will be held on:

December 13, 2027 at 2:00 PM CST

and February 10, 2028 at 4:00 PM CST.

These sessions will explore the program a in-depth and provide additional context beyond what is shared online.

Midwifery Designations & Credentials

Each graduate of Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™ will graduate as a Traditional Midwife with the Folk Midwife™ designation, affirming training in traditional, community-based, and global Indigenous midwifery practices passed through lineage, mentorship, and embodied learning. It recognizes midwifery as a cultural and communal practice, not solely a clinical role.

Folk Midwife™ (Traditional Midwife Designation)
The Folk Midwife™ designation-founded by Okunsola M. Amadou from 24-years of combined personal and professional indigenous, spiritual and clinical midwifery education, training and practice-recognizes midwives trained in traditional, community-based, and global Indigenous midwifery practices passed through lineage, apprenticeship, and embodied knowledge. This pathway affirms:

Traditional midwifery as a legitimate knowledge system
Community accountability over institutional hierarchy
Cultural, spiritual, and relational competencies alongside clinical skills

Folk Midwives™ are trained to:

Support women from mearche to menopause, preconception, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and loss in community settings
Practice culturally embodied, and earth centered care
Integrate herbal knowledge, ritual, and spiritual practices (within ethical scope)
Work collaboratively with families, elders, and healthcare systems
Serve as cultural stewards, educators, and community healers

A cultural designation founded by Okunsola M. Amadou-the Folk Midwife™ designation exists alongside, and not beneath, clinical credentials.

CPM Preparation
Graduates of the School are also academically and clinically prepared to sit for the NARM exam toward Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) credential and state licensure where applicable.

This dual pathway honors ancestral authority and modern regulatory realities without collapsing one into the other. The academic curriculum at Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™ is designed to align with NARM educational and clinical requirements for those who seek to become Certified Professional Midwives. Clinical requirements may extend beyond the two-year academic period, which is common across CPM pathways.

The School is founded on communal, cultural and lineage based midwifery education, and does not offer a degree pathway and does not confer licensure. Students are responsible for understanding state-specific practice regulations.

Midwifery Tuition Overview

Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery™, is a two-year, full-spectrum, vocational midwifery education program grounded in Global Indigenous knowledge, community-based apprenticeship, and rigorous academic and clinical preparation.

Total Tuition-2 Years: $27,500 (Founding Cohort Rate)

Annual Tuition: $13,750 per year

Tuition includes:
· Monthly In-person learning
·      Quarterly clinical intensives
·      Weekly live virtual instruction
·      Structured curriculum, assessments, and study groups
·      Elder-led teaching and lineage-based mentorship
·      Preparation for the NARM exam (CPM eligibility)
·      Eligibility for dual certification as a Folk Midwife™

*Tuition does not include books, supplies, travel, lodging, or clinical-related expenses.

Payment Options
We believe access and sustainability must coexist. Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery™ provides monthly, annual, and pay in full payment options for students.

Payment Plans
Enrollment Deposit: $1,500–enrollment deposit
Monthly payments over 24 months: $1,150/month
Annual Payment Option-$13,250/year (save $1,000 total)
Pay-in-Full Option-$26,000 total (save $1,500 total)

ready to learn more about okunsola's traditional midwifery school?

For those interested in learning more about Okunsola's Traditional Midwifery School before applying, "Virtual Interest Circles" will be held on:

December 13, 2027 at 2:00 PM CST

and February 10, 2028 at 4:00 PM CST.

These sessions will explore the program a in-depth and provide additional context beyond what is shared online.

Scholarships & Financial Access

The School offers 10 full-tuition scholarships and 10 book-and-supplies scholarships per cohort to support students with financial need and ancestral or community ties to birthwork.

Full scholarships are provided by Chicago Beyond.

Book and Supply scholarhsips are provided by The Global Folk Midwife Foundation™.

Work-study opportunities are available through the Historic Jamaa Birth Village Cultural Heritage Center, to cover some costs related to tuition.

External scholarship options and crowdfunding are also options.

Scholarships prioritize:

Black, Indigenous, and historically marginalized students
Community-based birthworkers
Lineage-connected midwives and apprentices
Students committed to serving underserved communities

*We believe midwifery education should not be gated by wealth, and we actively fundraise to expand scholarship access beyond tuition revenue alone.

Our Philosophy on Cost
While many short-term retreats charge $7,000–$10,000 for one-two weeks of exposure without training those attending to practice as midwives, and many CPM pathway programs charge $18,000-$40,000 without in-depth in person learning combined with cultural and spritual curriculums, our program offers two years of sustained, relational, and accountable training, knowledge and skill building fully emobdying cultural, historical, clinical and spiritual midiwfery education and training.

Tuition reflects not only instruction, but stewardship of elders, culture, community, and the future of midwifery itself.

OSTM Founding Cohort Lineage: 2026-2028

Learn more about some of our new students and ways to support their student midwifery funds.

Tomeka Collins

I’m Tomeka Collins, a proud mom of two teenage daughters and a Licensed Practical Nurse of 19 years. Two years ago...

I expanded my commitment to maternal and infant health by becoming a Full-Spectrum Doula and a Community Health Worker. This allowed me to support families beyond the clinical setting and walk with them through some of the most important moments of their lives.

I love birthwork and believe every mother deserves a safe, supported, and empowered birth experience. I am passionate about reducing maternal and infant mortality, especially in underserved communities and I truly believe representation matters. I currently serve as a Senior Board Member with Queens Village Columbus and as a member of the Ohio Doula Advisory Board.

I chose OSTM for its dual pathway in Traditional Midwife Designation and the Certified Professional Midwife training. This journey is especially meaningful for me, because I completed one of my doula trainings through Jamaa Birth Village, making this step into the midwifery training program a true full circle moment.

The donations raised will help me continue my mission of improving birth outcomes, strengthening families, and serving the community as a future midwife.

Support Tomeka

Tobbi Reeves-Valentine

My name is Tobbi Reeves-Valentine, I am the mother of 5 and the youngest of 13 children raised by a mother whose strength and resilience...

inspired along with my lived experiences, has inspired my passion for supporting women and families. Her journey as well as my own, taught me the sacred power of motherhood and planted the seeds for my calling to birth work.

As a Certified Doula, I have spent several years supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care, confirming my desire to serve mothers and babies on a deeper level. I have been blessed to have been given the opportunity to study with the Okunsola School of Traditional Midwifery’s commitment to traditional midwifery, physiological birth, and culturally rooted care aligns with my values and purpose.

I am hoping to raise $15,000 to help cover tuition, travel from Columbus, Ohio, books, and other expenses. These funds will also help offset financial needs as I reduce my hours as a School Nurse serving deaf and blind students, my Doula families and to secure care for my two granddaughters who are in my care.

Support Tobbi

Shelitha Haskell

My name is Shelitha, I am a Daughter, a Sister a Blessed Mother, a Full Spectrum Doula and a new Student Midwife. I am located in...

the South Suburbs of Chicago and have had the privilege of supporting a beautifully diverse spectrum of families over the past 5 years.

I chose OSTM because I believe their values align with the standard of care I have for myself, my clients, and our community. Birth work is a container for me to share my gifts. I am so honored to learn from a group of traditional, indigenous community minded women who love to teach, learn, and protect one another. I understand and have deep reverence for how impactful Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery will be on the future of midwifery in the midwest and the US as a whole.

This year, I am raising $10,000 towards books, equipment and travel fees including gas, lodging and car maintenance for our monthly 4-day in-person intensives. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity, any gifts offered for me during this journey will be honored and received with the highest level of gratitude.

Support Shelitha

Krystal Bariffe

Heyyy, my name is Krystal and I am a holistic minded, spiritual, homeschooling, herbalist mama of 7 children...

I am a legacy and culture curator that believes “black excellence” and “black power” come from ownership: our land, our ideas, our bodies, our stories, our culture, and our history. I chose Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery because it is the only path that aligns with my core beliefs and the legacy

I want to curate for folx across the diaspora. The aspect of returning to our traditional ways, including the use of “taboo” methods like astrology, herbs, and energy work is what drew me in. Okunsola’s story in creating a birth village is the exact trajectory I work hard to be on, and plan to open my own birthing space in the Hartford CT area (a birth center desert).

I would love to raise $20,000 to offset the cost of travel from CT, lodging, and educational material like tools and books. My homeschoolers will be with me through this journey, along with my loving and supportive partner and I hope to make my family proud.

Support Krystal

Jasmine Bivar

Howdy, I am Jazzy Bivar, from Tulsa, OK. I am super excited to have found a program committed to the ancestral and spiritual practices...

of African and Black peoples. Having that connection is the primary reason I chose to apply to Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery.

I've been a part of this movement since 2023 as I became a doula. Though most of my clients have not been black, this was the perfect entrance into Black Maternal Care. Through my practice and research I have learned that we need to place more attention on the pre conception and postpartum periods, ensuring our whole bodies are cared for at all times.

I'm seeking to raise as much as possible towards my tuition as I transition from Tulsa to St. Louis, hopefully by January 2027. My goal is 10k within this first year to accommodate tuition, travel and moving.

Support Jasmine

Jade Jackson

My name is Jade Jackson, and I go by the name of Faizah Jade, which means victorious one. I chose Okunsola’s School of Traditional...

Midwifery for its rich cultural approach, leading us back to our original positions in society. My soul was awakened the moment I surrounded myself with this community of men and women. This couldn't be a better time to train midwives and get back to our roots.

Any donations would be greatly appreciated. Continued education can be costly and an investment, especially in this day and age!

Support Jade

D'Metris Welters

D’Metris is a versed and results-driven Public Health Ambassador with almost two decades of demonstrated aptitude in...

sexual wellness for strategically undervalued communities. As a trained and practicing birth worker, (while working a full-time job that requires travel) she is acquainted with the rhythms and responsibilities that come with supporting families through their pregnancy, labor and postpartum journeys.

Her calling to midwifery is grounded in both her lived experience and belief that birth is an evolutionary rite of passage, communal and worthy of compassionate care. D’Metris’ calling also branches from the belief that birth work is service and restoration. Historically, midwives were trusted community pillars - the keepers of knowledge, protectors of mothers, family guides and safeguards of new life. As a midwife, she will restore village-centered birth experiences, built on a foundation of dignity.

Guided by the words of civil rights leader and Soror Fannie Lou Hamer, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” In the context of reproductive justice, when Black birthing bodies can give birth safely, respectfully and with adequate support, entire families and communities are liberated.

D’Metris is raising $24,000 ($13,250 - tuition + $895/mo - travel) to cover the second year of tuition and travel associated with becoming a transformative graduate of the inaugural cohort of Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery!

Support D'Metris

Gabrielle Cole

My name is Gabrielle Cole, and I chose OSTM, because I am looking for a holistic, culturally competent, and credible institution...

to be connected with on this journey to midwifery. I always knew I wanted to bring life into this world through the birthing experience, but my career took a different route initially, and I financially could not afford Nursing school.

Most importantly, the traditional setting was not appropriate or in alignment with how I view family care and wellness for my community, which is a vulnerable population. My core values are health and wellness and of course family. It is sacred and important to respect and uphold practices and beliefs that main stream healthcare might be unaware of as common and safe.

I am raising $10,000 toward my tuition to offset 50% of the cost to my family that is intergenerational with young children and an elder in our Academy neighborhood home in St. Louis City. With rising living costs, healthcare and childcare expenses, and being committed to the betterment northern St. Louis through community work is not always financially solid. This fundraiser supports deep investment to the health and wellbeing of my family and community.

Support Gabrielle

Dominique Jackson

As a community-based doula and lactation instructor in Columbus, Ohio, I'm passionate about bringing culturally-centered...

midwifery care to families in underserved communities. I chose the Jamaa Birth Village Midwife Cohort because its community-rooted approach aligns perfectly with my commitment to supporting birthing people and families with dignity and cultural humility.

Through Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery,, I aim to deepen my skills and become a midwife who can expand access to quality maternal health care in Ohio and beyond. I'm raising $15,000 to cover books/materials, monthly out-of-state travel for in-person intensives, and essential supplies needed to succeed in the program. Your support directly invests in building a more equitable maternity care system led by caregivers who understand and honor our communities.

Support Dominique

Atinia Cage

My name is Antinia “Nia” Cage and I am a certified full-spectrum doula, mother and advocate serving families...

throughout Southern Illinois and the St. Louis region. I often joke that I am “bi-statial” because I grew up between Illinois and St. Louis, giving me a strong connection to both communities.

Through my work in hospital settings and birth work, I realized my passion is helping families access safe, respectful and informed birth options. My own journey into motherhood inspired me to pursue midwifery through OSTM and continue serving families on a deeper level.

Any support received will help cover educational expenses not covered by my scholarship, including travel, books, lodging and supplies. Thank you for taking the time to learn a little about me and for investing in this dream.

Support Atinia

Alanda Anderson

I am Alanda (Lana) Anderson, born and raised in St Louis. I am currently pursuing my dream and passion of mixing maternal and...

mental health as a birth doula and provisionally licensed counselor. I am raising $3,000 to go towards my materials, books, and school travels during my time in the program.

Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery was my only option for midwifery as I felt aligned from the start. This program is so impactful to me because it's keeping the traditions alive from our ancestors. Through this program, I get the opportunity to be a light bearer and expand my knowledge and wisdom through supporting pregnant and parenting families.

I give gratitude and thanksgiving for any offerings and donations applied.

Support Alanda

This program is for future midwives who:

Feel called to midwifery as a lifelong sacred communal practice
Value community accountability over trend and are willing to commit to two years of disciplined study
Has done inner personal anti-bias, anti-racism work, with a desire to provide cultural embodied care to families
Want both traditional lineage training and clinical preparation to carry forward the lineage of Traditional Midwifery
Intend to serve families with genuine and authentic care

This program may not be a fit if you:

Have not done anti-bias, anti-racist, trauma based internal work
Seeking the fastest or cheapest pathway
Primarily interested in academic titles
Unable to commit to in-person intensives
Looking for a self-paced or fully virtual experience

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there prerequisites?

Great candidates of OSTM have some experience in birth work whether it be supporting family members and friends with their birthing journeys, or working as a professional doula, birth assistant, lactation specialist etc.

Future midwives with OSTM are required to have graduated high school or from a GED program.

Future midwives with OSTM are required to have previously undergone professional or personal cultural congruency training in the areas of anti-bias, anti-racism, and trauma awareness in maternal health.

Future midwives of OSTM must have a sincere passion in midwifery, which should be demonstrated throughout the application process.

What other program requirements are there?

I don't live in St. Louis, can I complete the course virtually?

Why does this midwifery program cost $27,500?

Okunsola's School of Traditional Midwifery is a two-year, full-time-equivalent education program, with both rigorous cultural academic and in-depth clinical application requirements offered in-person and remotely. The School is not a short retreat or self-paced course, or solely focused on systemic degree titles and processes which can inflate costs.

Tuition supports ethical elder and cultural sustained instruction, in-person intensives, clinical preparation, elder mentorship, curriculum development, and hands on learning experiences thorughout the 2-year program. The current tuition reflects the founding cohort, which is lesser than the actual standard tuition for the School.

How is this different from a one-week or one-month program?

Why does this cost as much as some degree programs if there is no degree?

Degrees confer academic credentials for an inflated price, that aligns with governmental, systemic, insitutional requirments that do not always align with the cultural, spiritual and ancestral skills necessary to be a midwife with both clinical and cultural readiness; this program confers practice readiness, lineage training, and community trust over a degree.

Many students choose this path because they want depth, embodiment, and cultural grounding rather than an academic title alone. Future midwives who already have a degree in another area of specialty may also choose this program.

Can I still become a CPM through this program?

Are scholarships available?

How do I apply?

What Happens After I Apply?

The enrollment team will review applicaitons on an ongoing basis. Acceptance takes place in 3-parts:

1. Application submission
2. Submission of a video interview or 1-on-1 interview with the enrollment team,
3. Acceptance or non-acceptance letter received.

Future midwives are encouraged to apply early and not wait to the deadline. Only 20-students will be accepted into the first cohort. Once the cohort is full, registration will close. All students will receive notice of acceptance or non-acceptance by May 1, 2025.

How Do I Apply for the Scholarship?

During the application process, there will be an opportunity to select if you're applying for the scholarship. If you plan to apply for the scholarship, you'll be required to submit a 2-page scholarship narrative for consideration. This narrative will be attached to your application.

Future Midwives will receive notifications of scholarship approval or non-approval by May 1, 2026.

Apply to join the 2nd cohort

December 21, 2027 – March 23, 2028