The BMF in California is a one-year non-renewable fellowship recruiting two certified nurse-midwives (CNM) positions as clinical instructors at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. Salary is expected to be $129,850 for 70% FTE effort (average of 28 hours a week). Fellows are paid and eligible for benefits in accordance with university policy. The incoming candidates will provide full scope nurse-midwifery clinical care including antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, family planning services, with a focus in abortion. The BMF is led by exceptional advanced practice providers and features practice-based learning, didactic education, mentorship and scholarly projects. The program is designed for new graduates (within 24 months of program completion) to expand the knowledge and skills acquired during graduate or doctoral training. Throughout the course of the fellowship year, a fellow can expect ongoing mentorship and engagement in self-assessment and performance feedback framed in practice-based knowledge, skills and attitudes. The program is a one-year commitment expected to run from Summer/Fall 2026-2027. Each fellow is expected to complete midwifery-based training with didactic and focused clinical rotations.
The name of our fellowship is a legacy tribute to Black Midwives in the United States. Prior to the Civil War abortion and contraceptive care were legal, and Black Midwives provided community-based care inclusive of abortion care and reproductive health care to all communities. Post legalized enslavement there was a public and national smearing campaign of Black Midwives in the obstetric field as physicians sought capital gain, recognition, and a professional monopoly. These actions excluded the advancement and continued work of Black Midwives in this country as a trusted provider, especially in Black communities. Additionally, midwifery governing organizations barred Black people from membership, further severing Black Midwives from their own communities. With the loss of Black Midwifery, there was also loss of cultural safety, respect, wisdom, truth-telling, and the nurturance that Black midwives provide to communities. Today, less than 9% of US midwives are Black. There is no way to correct the harms of these actions, though there is repair work to be done now. The Black Midwifery Fellowship in California is one form of this.
ZSFG is the City and County of San Francisco’s safety net hospital and serves as the main source of primary and specialty care for uninsured and underinsured residents of San Francisco. The Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital division is the largest of the six divisions in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and includes the longest-standing hospital-based midwifery practice in San Francisco. The ZSFG Family Birth Center offers expanded options to patients, including nitrous oxide, as well as ongoing support of physiologic birth, including volunteer and community-based doula programs, and one of the lowest cesarean-section rates in California. ZSFG nurse-midwives are members of a collaborative, interprofessional team with a shared commitment to providing respectful, culturally appropriate care to all patients and families.
