Inspired to address the harrowing reality of disproportionate maternal and infant outcomes for Black families August Ali and Jaress founded HBC to legislatively combat these issues.

HBC authored and filed HB1041 which initiates a state plan amendment to add Licensed Certified Professional Midwives to the Illinois Medicaid program.

Study Approved / Funded by State of Illinois’ Exploring Alternative Healthcare Delivery Models for Birthing Persons Grant.

Star August Ali becomes First Black President of Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives.

August Ali ultimately resigned as president of ICCPM due to resistance in-house regarding the importance of Medicaid for Black maternal health. See the article below for more details:

Illinois becomes the 37th State to licensure Certified Professional Midwives, setting Star August Ali to become the first Black CPM in Illinois qualified to apply for a license in
Illinois.

This will open up midwifery for women who don’t have the funds to pay for it.

Holistic Birth Collective NFP is granted 501(c) 3 status by the State of Illinois

HBC authored and filed HB 5012 which Provides that a “licensed certified professional midwife” means a person who has successfully met the requirements in the provisions concerning licensure and has been licensed by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

HBC co-authored and filed HB 5013 which requires managed care organizations to pay for prenatal and perinatal healthcare, no matter if it’s from a contracted provider or not. House Bill 5013 also adds Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) as Primary providers in freestanding birth centers.

HBC convened the first meeting of the state-wide Illinois Coalition for Equitable Access to Community Midwifery Care to recommend real-world, practical and operational particulars of Medicaid reimbursement for Illinois Midwives.

Star August Ali gets official word that she has passed her NARM exam and has been awarded the CPM credential, slating her to become the first Black midwife licensed in Illinois!

HBC authors and files The Reproductive Liberty and Dignity Act. The RLJA improves and builds upon prior legislation to comprehensively address gaps and harmful systems that
negatively affect the health of people who become pregnant in Illinois and more.

Star August Ali gets official word that she has passed her NARM exam and has been awarded the CPM credential, slating her to become the first Black midwife licensed in Illinois!

Focus Groups are held (in relation to the Birth Survey) with Birth Workers and Families on the South Side of Chicago to elicit their lived experience of being a birthing person and/or working with birthing persons in a maternity health desert.

A secondary data set is planned to be purchased by HBC from the Division of Patient Safety and Quality at the Illinois Department of Public Health. These date will assist HBC is strengthening it’s evidence-based approach and legislative aims.

HBC is working toward creating a Licensed Midwife Education Program in Chicago’s Perinatal Desert by establishing a new Career in Technical Education (CTE) Associate of Applied Science program within the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) system.