African Indigenous Midwifery Museum™

AIMM-A Global Center for African Indigenous and Black Diasporic Midwifery Cultural Heritage & Research

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BOOK YOUR MUSEUM TOUR

2026 HOURS: 
Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm

DAILY ENTRY
Adults: $7
Students: $5 (with valid student ID)
Children: FREE (ages 0–12)

TOURS
Our one-hour guided tours by a knowledgeable guide and self-guided tours, must be scheduled in advance.

Visitors can book a one-hour tour at the rate that fits their category-adult, student, or free for children. Museum members can enter their membership code when scheduling to reserve a tour at no cost.

AIMM is a living repository honoring African and Black diasporic wisdom, teachings, ways, and embodiment of African ancestral midwifery, that has been preserved at the brink of erasure.

We ask that guests are respectful and courteous as they visit and explore our sacred  and historic cultural heritage site.

The African Indigenous Midwifery Museum™ (AIMM) is the first and only cultural heritage museum in the world solely dedicated to the preservation, education, and celebration of African & Black midwifery traditions.

Founded by Okunsola M. Amadou in 2024, and launched in 2025-AIMM is a museum and cultural heritage institution that documents the precolonial, prehistoric, premodern and Black diasporic history of midwifery, to preserve and connect the past, present, and future of midwifery lineages.

Founding Chief Museum Curator Okunsola M. Amadou-a graduate of the Midwives College of Utah and the University of Iowa Museum Studies Program-intertwines her over 20-years of expertise in community midwifery care, women's wellness education, international journeys with the descendants, lands and places of ancestral midwives, and global Maternal Health initiatives, through her trained & certified specialties in African Indigenous Folklore, cultural heritage preservation, coastal communities and matrilineal herstory documentation, in her work in establishing AIMM.

Housed within The Historic Jamaa Birth Village Cultural Heritage Center™ in Ferguson-Missouri, AIMM exhibits artifacts, art collections, oral histories, texts, and immersive exhibits that honor ancestral, pioneering, and priestess midwives, documenting the full story of Black Midwifery as a force for liberation, resilience, and communal power.

DOWNLOAD THE MUSEUM PDF GUIDE

MISSION

Educating, archiving, and celebrating the spiritual, medicinal, and cultural knowledge of African Indigenous & Black midwives through:

EXHIBITS

Exhibits that illuminate precolonial and prehistoric birth practices, diasporic traditions, and modern-day midwifery.

STORYTELLING

Storytelling that uplifts the legacies of midwives who shaped maternal health across continents.

RESEARCH & SCHOLARSHIP

Our Library Research Institute provides access to the largest collection of Black midwifery-centered materials in the nation.

COMMUNITY

Community connection that empowers individuals to see midwifery not only as healthcare but as a cultural and spiritual practice of liberation.

Current Exhibitions
Special Exhibitions
BOOK YOUR MUSEUM TOUR

African Indigenous Midwifery Museum Exhibition

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Birth in Primordial Antiquity: Precolonial & Prehistoric Midwifery Care

Step into an immersive recreation of an ancestral African birth setting. This exhibit highlights the tools, rituals, and community-centered care that characterized birthwork prior to colonization, offering visitors an intimate and reverent look into humanity’s earliest birthing environments.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Guardians of Life: Midwives of Africa

Explore the roles of midwives in Congo, Dahomey (Benin), Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, and beyond-where Midwives were spiritual warriors, priestesses, healers, and protectors of lineage. This exhibition features rare artifacts, fertility figurines, birth divination tools, midwife musical instruments, and oral histories that reveal their power, influence, and sacred role in sustaining life.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Mother of the Waters: Midwives in the Transatlantic Experience

A deeply moving journey into the lives of African midwives during the transatlantic, human enslavement theft trade (1500s–1800s). Discover how Midwives excluded their power, resisted, adapted, and passed down knowledge that sustained both life and culture under unimaginable conditions.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

A Living Altar: Honoring the Midwives Who Came Before Us

A sacred grounding space where visitors may pause, reflect, and honor ancestral midwives whose names, stories, and spirits continue to guide the future of birth justice.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Traditional Midwifery to Criminalization & Credentialing: 1865–1995

This exhibit traces the journey of midwifery from post-emancipation through the 20th century, highlighting the Granny "Grand" Midwives of the South, the rise of Certified Professional, Nurse and Licensed Midwives, and today’s movement toward culturally grounded, community-led care. It explores the transformation of midwifery tools-from plant medicine and nature-based practices to the medical instruments used in contemporary birth work - through oral history, folklore, and archival artifacts.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Modern Midwives & Trailblazers: The Women Who Returned Black Midwifery to Us

Celebrate the ancestral and living midwives who defied criminalization, blazed new trails, and restored midwifery to Black communities across America. This exhibit honors their courage, brilliance, and resilience as they carved a path for future generations.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Midwifery of the Diaspora: African Midwifery Practices Across the Globe

This global exhibit highlights traditional and Indigenous midwifery practices anchored in African & Black diasporic knowledge. Featuring photos, art, artifacts, fabrics, and local & regional tools from Asia, Europe, Canada, India and Australia-it brings to life and back together the disrupted lineage of African midwifery across the diaspora.

PERMANENT EXHIBIT

Legacy & Liberation: Jamaa Birth Village

Celebrate the herstory and impact of Jamaa Birth Village and its visionary founder, Okunsola M. Amadou -Missouri’s first Black Certified Professional Midwife, Midwife Priestess, and pioneer. This exhibit traces Jamaa’s 10+ year herstory & legacy, and Okunsola's maternal health journey over 2-decades, including her milestones and ongoing contributions to maternal health, birth justice, and cultural reclamation.

SPECIAL EXHIBIT

January 12, 2026 – December 15, 2026

SPECIAL EXHIBIT

Sacred Shores: Gullah Geechee Birth Traditions in the Carolinas

A powerful exploration of Gullah Geechee midwifery along the southern U.S. coast. Learn how these midwives preserved African birthing traditions and became essential to the survival and health of their communities through centuries of oppression through the active practice of Hoodoo, prayer, laying on of hands, and conjure to protect their people in birth and beyond.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Midwifery & Geneaology: Who Was the Midwife in your family?

March 18, 2026 at 1:00pm CST | Virtual

Join the team at the African Indigenous Midwifery Library & Research Institute and special guests, as we journey into Midwifery genealogy, learning more about documenting, processes and archiving tools to discover the midwives in your community, family and lineage. RSVP Here.

Midwifery Folklore & Storytelling: A Gathering of Storytellers and Folklorists on the Pioneering Legends and Legacies in Midwifery

April 14, 2026 at 1:00pm CST | The African Indigenous Midwifery Museum

Gather around in the storytelling room at the African Indigenous Midwifery Museum, in celebration of Jamaa Birth Village Day, for an afternoon with Griots, Storytellers and Folklorists, sharing the stories, legacies and pioneering tales of Black Midwives across the world. RSVP Here.

BOOK A TOUR

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

All membership tiers include full access to the African Indigenous Midwifery Museum (AIMM) and the African Indigenous Library & Research Institute (AIM LRI), ensuring that everyone can engage with our collections, research, and cultural programming. Join before 12/31/2025 and earn an AIMM Founding Museum Member cowry and virtual badge!

COMMUNITY MEMBER

$65/year

Designed for individuals and families seeking regular access to AIMM.

  • Unlimited free admission for 2 adults + children under 18
  • Full access to LRI reading room & on-site research materials
  • 10% discount in the Museum Shop
  • Discounted admission to special events, workshops, and lectures
  • Quarterly members-only newsletter with behind-the-scenes content
  • One-time welcome gift (AIMM tote or enamel pin)
  • Eligibility for reciprocal museum discounts through partner networks
  • Gift Memberships available for friends and family
BECOME A MEMBER

Most popular!

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Midwife Cultural Heritage Contributor

$150/year

For those who want to go deeper into AIMM’s cultural work.

  • All Community Member benefits, plus:
  • Invitation to Members-Only Exhibit Previews & Receptions
  • 20% discount on AIMM workshops, programs, and events
  • One guest pass for friends/family
  • Priority registration for AIMM events
  • Early access to Digital Member Portal featuring select LRI archives and curated content
BECOME A MEMBER

Ancestral Midwife Circle Patron

$500/year

Our premier tier for cultural scholars, birth workers, and community visionaries.

  • All Heritage Contributor benefits, plus:
  • Unlimited research appointments in the LRI (virtual or in-person)
  • Private behind-the-scenes tour with AIMM curator/archivist
  • Name recognized on AIMM Donor Wall and annual report
  • 25% discount on AIMM publications, exclusive merchandise, and select events Complimentary admission to one premium AIMM masterclass or workshop annually
BECOME A MEMBER

BECOME A MEMBER

Museum Membership
Annual Cost: $65.00
$65.00 for each year
Annual Cost: $150.00
$150.00 for each year
Annual Cost: $500.00
$500.00 for each year
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AIMM ADVISORY COUNCIL

Okunsola Amadou Midwife

Okunsola Amadou

Midwife, Museum Founder, Curator & Folklorist

themidwiferyfolklorist.com

Sara Makeba Daise

Sara Makeba Daise

M.A. Author, Griot, Diviner & Public Historian

saramakeba.com

Linda Janet Holmes

Linda Janet Holmes

Writer, Biographer, Oral Historian & Curator

lindajholmes.net

Janet Sula Evans

Janet Sula Evans

B.A. Mamissi, Cultural Preservationist & Doula

sulaspirit.com

Jamrah Amani LM

Jamrah Amani LM

LM- Pioneer Midwife & Co-Founder of National Black Midwives Alliance

blackmidwivesalliance.org

Mama Sarahn Henderson

Mama Sarahn Henderson

Elder Traditional Midwife & Midwife Historian

birthinthetradition.com

Mother Health International

Mother Health International

Traditional Midwifery & Birth Center in Uganda

motherhealth.org

VISION

To become a globally recognized cultural and research institution that preserves the wisdom, resilience, and sacred knowledge of African Indigenous midwifery, inspiring future generations of midwives, scholars, and families to reclaim birth as a site of cultural power, dignity, and justice.

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MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS