Community Birth Work School

Learn Traditional Mexican Birthwork in San Diego

This program is a culturally rooted community birthwork school dedicated to training and empowering Black, Brown, and Indigenous aspiring and practicing birth workers. This six-month educational journey will offer culturally relevant instruction, mentorship, and collective care practices through a liberatory lens.

This program seeks to fill a critical gap in birthwork education — one that centers the experiences, traditions, and wisdom of communities of color while addressing systemic disparities in maternal health and birth outcomes.

Hands On Full Spectrum Training and Certification

The United States faces a maternal health crisis — one that disproportionately affects Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. This birthwork school will

  • Train birth workers to offer culturally informed, trauma-responsive, and community-based care

  • Create an intergenerational learning environment rooted in ancestral knowledge

  • Foster leadership, confidence, and sustainability in the birthwork profession for BIPOC individuals

  • Build a network of  community-based birth workers supporting reproductive justice

This program will certify birthworkers to practice >>> <<<<< in San Diego through our partnership with Monarch Midwives.

Class Schedule

2025

September 25
October 9 + 23
November 6 + 20
December 4 + 18

2026

January 8 + 22
February 5 + 19
March 5 + 19

Elydé Arroyo

Elydé Arroyo is a Mother, Full Spectrum Birthworker, Childbirth Educator, Child Passenger Safety Technician, Babywearing Educator, Certified Lactation Educator,Community Organizer and chanel. She will be guiding the program in partnership with community guest maestras and maestrxs.

Curriculum

  • Reproductive justice & birth equity

  • Traditional birth and postpartum practices

  • Herbalism, ancestral medicine & bodywork

  • Trauma-informed care & somatic healing

  • Client advocacy & navigating medical systems

  • Ethics, boundaries & business foundations

Who it’s for

  • Black, Brown, and Indigenous individuals

  • Aspiring and existing birth workers (doulas, midwives, postpartum caregivers, etc.)

  • Prioritizing low-income, LGBTQ+, disabled, and formerly incarcerated applicants

Community Impact

  • Addressing racial disparities in maternal and infant outcomes

  • Creating sustainable livelihood paths for birth workers of color

  • Reclaiming ancestral birthing practices and community healing

  • Creating a community of care and mutual support among participants

Tuition Options

  • Sliding scale $888-$1555

  • Scholarships and payment plans available

  • 14 students max

Location

In person classes will be held in San Diego in locations such as (to be confirmed)

  • Chicano Park Museum

  • Tourmaline Birth Center

  • Balboa Park

  • San Diego Community Birth Center

Submit your application

Application closes July 27th, 2025