Reframing the Landscape

Much of the perinatal care conversation in the United States is shaped by what is missing—maternity care deserts, provider shortages, health disparities. At the National Foundation for Certified Professional Midwives, we begin somewhere else.

Where some see maternity care deserts, we see places where community-based midwifery care is already thriving—responding with adaptability and relationship that is deeply rooted in place. Where marginalized communities are often defined by disparities, we recognize rich, living cultures filled with knowledge, resilience, and wisdom essential to shaping a more just and responsive perinatal care system.

Community midwives are not the problem—they are the loadstone guiding the way toward a future where families are served by equitable, community-based midwifery and birth care systems. They have spent decades navigating medical, legislative, and reimbursement structures that are often misaligned with evidence and the needs of families. Through that experience, community midwives have developed the practical knowledge and systems wisdom required to design care models that are both accessible and sustainable.

What they need is not reinvention, but investment. A little rain in the desert—and the conditions for transformation are already forming.

This perspective guides everything we do: how we invest in education and workforce development, how we approach systems integration, and how we define success. It is also why our logo looks the way it does.

The desert and hot air balloon reflect a core truth of our work: community midwifery and birth care has evolved to thrive in challenging environments, while lasting change requires the ability to rise above the landscape and reimagine the system as a whole.

👉 Learn more about the meaning behind our logo and vision