Help fund- Indigenous Mexican Midwife's Education

Niltze, Hello, Greetings! I’m Juanita Ahuehuetzin, and I am a midwife student at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College. I am in my last year of midwifery school and I’m in need of your help and generosity. For those of you who may not know me, I’m a single mother of four, a fierce advocate for Indigenous and reproductive justice, a plant/gardening lover and a former DACA recipient. For the last 9+ years I have worked as a traditional birthwoker/doula and most recently as a licensed bodyworker too, servicing families both in Illinois and Wisconsin. My calling and life goal is to provide traditional midwifery care, from womb to tomb, that is time-proven, evidence based and culturally relevant to the undocumented and immigrant communities of Chicago and its surrounding areas.

In late 2021, Illinois became the 37th state to legalize Certified Professional Midwives (CPM). This was a major milestone for our state and I’m beyond grateful for those who made this possible - Thank you! But we all know that equality doesn't mean equity, nor does it guarantee accessibility. This is where I come in, as a future CPM, ready to do my part to close the birth disparities for our most vulnerable communities. Unfortunately, the roads I walked as an Indigenous Mexican midwife have not yet been paved in Illinois, nor do I have local preceptors that can guide my learning in this area. Nonetheless, as soon as this bill was passed, I applied for midwifery school, got accepted and started school that same year. Midwifery school has not been easy, but I have made it work and gotten this far already.

To meet both the requirements set by the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC) and The North American Registry for Midwives (NARM) I’m required to do hands-on learning in the form of a preceptorship, this clinical work needs to take place in a state where CPMs are recognized by the state. While Illinois has now legalized CPMs, the final laws and regulations for this bill are still being drafted, CPMs cannot legally practice until the wording of the law is finalized. In my case, this means I need to move out of state to complete this part of my education.

Last year, I applied for and got accepted for a preceptorship with Luna Tierra Birth Center- Casa de Parto located in El Paso, Texas. Luna Tierra was formed in 2016 by a collective of bilingual midwives from both sides of the border with the goal of closing birth disparities in El Paso and surrounding areas. I have established a beautiful relationship with Luna Tierra Birth and have already travelled there twice for my preceptorship. During those visits I was able to complete the first half of my clinical requirements for NARM. The time has come again for me to go back to El Paso and finish what I already started. This time, my stay in El Paso will be for 6 months and my children will be coming with me. This is where you come in, as I’m loudly and boldly saying I cannot do this alone; I need your help!

Being a student in a preceptorship it’s a full-time job (3/4 days of clinic, 24/7 on call for births). This means I will not be able to work to pay my expenses for the next 6-9 months. Preceptors do not pay their students as it is understood that we trade our services for the hands-on experience and signatures we need to prove our learning. As I already had a degree before starting midwifery school (BA-Cultural Anthropology from NEIU 2010, self-funded) I’m not eligible for Pell Grants. Apart from two scholarships that I received my first year, I had to pay out of pocket for my tuition, books, equipment, travel expenses to WI for test-outs, travel expenses to El Paso for my clinical work, and two car replacements. All that to say, that I’m out of savings, and the loans I’m taking are not enough to cover this last stretch of my clinical work. Please help me finish midwifery school and let’s bring Indigenous Mexican midwifery care to the Chicago area, because it matters that our most vulnerable communities have access to safe, culturally relevant out of hospital midwifery care.

For the next 6 - 9 months your contribution will help cover:

-Tuition for summer/fall 2023

-Moving expenses from IL to TX in June and back in Dec.

-Traveling expenses to WI for test-out in OCT

-NARM application/exam

-Birth bag Supplies

-Living expenses

Here’s how you can help! If you’re able and willing, please consider donating to my campaign to fund the last stretch of my midwifery education. If you don’t have the fund, you can still support by simply sharing this link with your family, friends, and work networks. Every bit helps and together we can make this happen!

Tlazohkamati-Gracias-Thank You for taking the time to read my story and considering helping me bring the radical change that is desperately needed to the level the playing fields in our current maternal health desert that is Chicago and its surrounding areas.

Sincerely, Juanita Ahuehuetzin.