Scholarships

Ayanna Ade, midwife

The Ayanna Ade Black Student Midwife Scholarship Award

Shafia Monroe Consulting (SMC) proudly announces the Annual Ayanna Ade Black Student Midwife Scholarship Award.

In honor of Ayanna Ade’s contribution to midwifery, SMC will award a scholarship to one recipient for a minimum of $1,200.

Eligibility Requirements: Must be an African American enrolled in a recognized US Midwifery College/School or Apprenticeship Midwife Training Model with a preceptor. This scholarship recognizes all midwifery educational programs.

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The Scholarship will be Awarded on December 15, 2023

Scholarship Winners

  • Sydney Tyler, 2022
  • Nalah W. Linda Morrow, 2021
  • LaDereka Carter, 2020
  • Mercedes Snyder, 2019

Who is Ayanna Ade?

Ayanna Ade was an African American midwife who was committed to equity in birth and diversity in the midwifery profession. Her famous quote from the Bringin’ in Da Spirit documentary:


“Birth is a sacred family event.”

Ayanna Ade

She trained as a homebirth midwife in the 1970s in Houston, TX, her hometown, and later returned to school to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. Ayanna wanted to serve more Black women and be a light for the women who chose hospital birth. She was a mentor to any student midwife who needed her.

In 1980, she co-founded Childbirth Providers of African Descent (CPAD), the first private National Black Midwifery Organization to bring midwives together to learn and support one another. In 1990, she gathered CPAD members to meet with the Jamaican midwives for exchanging knowledge. She was an advisory member for the International Center for Traditional Childbearing (ICTC) and the TX ICTC State representative for five years.

Ayanna Ade worked to increase the number of Black midwives, diversify the midwifery workforce, reduce infant mortality, improve maternal outcomes, support fathers, and build community health.

She was my midwife sister and the midwife for my sixth baby. It is an honor to remember her legacy with this annual scholarship award.

Ayanna Ade transitioned at home in Houston, TX on May 23, 2013.

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