Kiki Jordan Is Building Oakland’s 1st Full-Spectrum Birth Sanctuary — and Divesting from White Supremacy to Reclaim the Midwifery Model of Cultural Care

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Season 1 | Episode 13

In honor of Black Maternal Health Week, we’re going deep into the sacred, radical, and healing power of Black birth with none other than Licensed and Certified Professional Midwife, Kiki Jordan.

Kiki’s journey started with her own homebirth — and what it sparked was more than curiosity... it was a calling. Through her 20+ years of midwifery care, she’s built a wellness ecosystem rooted in ancestral wisdom, community care, and the unapologetic rejection of colonial, profit-driven healthcare systems.

In this episode, Kiki drops truth about what it means to center Black birthing folks in holistic, financially accessible midwifery care — and she introduces us to her revolutionary vision: BIRTHLAND. Imagine Oakland’s first full-spectrum birthing center and wellness sanctuary — a space for safe pre- and postnatal care, emotional and spiritual healing, and cooperative, community-based clinical support. This isn’t just a dream. It’s a blueprint. Oakland has been craving this care — and now, the vision is taking root.

We discuss how the future of Black birth is rooted in healing, autonomy, and thriving outside the trauma-inducing grip of the medical industrial complex.

We get into the sacredness of trust between midwife and birthing person. We explore the power of storytelling to reshape what’s possible. And we name the truth: birth is not inherently a crisis — it’s spirit work.

This is for the ancestors and the babies. For the mamas and midwives. For every Black woman ready to reclaim her power.

MORE ABOUT KIKI

Kiki Jordan, LM, CPM, is a Licensed and Certified Professional Midwife based in Oakland, California. She is the founder and director of Birthland Midwifery and serves as the Program Director of Kindezi Black Perinatal Wellness. With over two decades of experience, Jordan has attended more than 1000 births and has been a passionate advocate for accessible, culturally affirming midwifery care for Black and low-income families.

Her journey into midwifery began in 1999, following the life-changing experience of her own home birth. She trained through the apprenticeship model in both home and birth center settings and studied at the International School of Midwifery in Miami, Florida. Since obtaining her California license in 2005, she has practiced in multiple states, including Georgia and Florida, often in freestanding birth centers operated entirely by licensed midwives.

Jordan currently serves as the Board President of the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives, where she works to elevate the role of CPMs in the national midwifery landscape. Her leadership and clinical work focus on addressing racial disparities in maternal health outcomes and preserving out-of-hospital birth options.

Deeply committed to healing generational trauma and protecting the sanctity of birth, Jordan views midwifery as a radical act of care and empowerment.

“I do think that the midwifery model of care, specifically Black midwives caring for Black women, is dismantling that if we continue to show up, create and be innovative in the models of care that we create, continue to consider how people can access our care, then we really are undoing the experience of oppression that folks are going through within the medical system. And I hope that we will continue to see the impact of that for generations to come.”

— Kiki