Mentorship Overview

Our first mentorship call will be Thursday March 21th, 2024 from 2pm - 4pm PST. We will meet a total of 13 times every Saturday from 9am-11am PST. Our last group call is planned for June 15th. Individual one-on-one sessions with Tema will be scheduled separately between April - June. The mentorship cohort is designed to take on a life of its own. The cohort will have individualized group mentoring sessions with hand tailored topics of their own choosing. We will have knowledge shares by guest Parteras and Elders to inspire and build community with. After our 13 calls you will have access to our monthly connection calls with Tema and all former UTJ cohort members.

  • 13 group mentoring sessions

  • 6 Guest Partera / Elder Knowledge Shares

  • Monthly Connections Calls

  • 2 one-on-one calls with Partera Tema

  • June Yearly Gathering for all Cohorts

Welcome Video

What is Unveiling the Journey?

Mentorship or aspiring Parteras

Four years ago I sat next to our family temescal in our backyard. I rolled up a tobacco and I began to pray for guidance. I had been dreaming and hearing messages about launching some sort of program for BIPOC aspiring midwives. I had lots of resistance because I'm not into coaching programs or selling things that are already being offered and at the time I did not have time to create more courses. As I sat there and prayed with the tobacco the way I do whenever I need support from my guides, ancestors and the Creator, I began to receive my instructions. The instructions were simply, do not create a curriculum, pray before each session and you will know what to say. Put out the call and the aspiring parteras will hear the call when it is their time. What came next was nothing short of magical. I have seen so much good come from the last two mentorship cohorts. I have witnessed doubting birth workers find and define their path to finally pursue midwifery education with confidence and support. Cohorts members have created meaningful friendships. They have attended one another's births and so much more. The gift of this membership is that it is a community. I will show up for you as a mentor but you will show up for each other in ways that are so much more meaningful. I see my role as creating the container for us but your cohort will be the environment. I look forward to meeting you!

Group Interest Call Recording

If you are contemplating your participation and or are not sure if this is something that is right for you, I invite you and anyone who wants to know more about “Unveiling the Journey a Mentorship for Aspiring Parteras,” to join former participants of the mentorship cohort and I in an interest group call on Sunday January 15th at 10am PST, where you can get to know me and have the opportunity to listen in on how the cohort has impacted previous members.

Watch the Recording Here!

Before I began birth work I had a decade of spiritual and cultural teachings that I could rely on as resources for my Partera path. In truth, those ceremonial and spiritual practices were my first teachers. We can not sustain as Parteras without learning how to tend to our mind, body, spirit and heart .

  • Mind

    Become a part of a peer review to help you process difficult births, or challenging client scenarios. Peer review will be held during and will continue after the mentorship.

  • Cuerpo

    Discover and deepen your embodiment practices . Learn somatic awareness tools to identify and move trauma out of your body.

  • Spirit

    Reconnect with simple and basic spiritual practices to assist you in reactivating your ancestral memory and help you recover your original instructions.

  • Corazon

    A gentle container to help you have courageous heart centered discussions. Together we'll learn how to tend to our Corazon.

UTJ Annual Reunion and Retreat

Save the date June 20 -22, 2024

Former Cohort Member Reflections..

“The mentorship cohort was everything I didn't know I needed"

Miriam

"I came in looking to find community, and although I did, I was led to find myself through the reflections and openness of those that became friends and allies. This cohort was a synchronicity of all involved. Different journeys, different cultures, different people but an aligned path, to say the least.”

Truly transformative

K. Cruz

The mentorship program I participated in was truly transformative in every aspect of my being. It allowed me to delve into different areas of birthwork and gain new perspectives, ultimately giving me the courage to explore my interests further.

Nourished my spirit

Fatima Chavez

I am constantly unfolding and saying yes. This could not come to fruition without community support. The mentorship nourished my spirit and lifted my confidence. Since then I feel rooted to keep expanding my skills and sharing with folks my aspirations of midwifery.

The cohort experience was very wholesome, powerful and uplifting.

Elena M.

We discussed themes that I had never had the opportunity to talk with amongst other women, and just hold space for each other to process and heal deeper wounds whether they were mother wounds, trauma, birth, trauma, personal trauma. It was a very Ancestral way of holding space. The cohort mentorship was created to guide future midwives in becoming a midwife. The mentorship values midwifery as a very sacred responsibility that holds high regard and the mentorship honored that responsibility and we had different opportunities to reflect on what it meant to do the work, and not only think about ourselves or the parents but the children as well. It was a very generational connection that we were making.

I am deeply grateful to have been a part of this sacred space

D.O.

It was a very beautiful virtual space to connect with birthkeepers and birthworkers sharing, storytelling, healing, learning and dialogue for the reclamation and restoration of original and community midwifery, birth work as an embodied practice, decolonizing midwifery practices and apprenticeships, this work as an “act of resistance” to the current western framework.

“Personally, this mentorship helped reawaken my DNA and ancestral memories"

Megan

"This mentorship is a must for BIPOC aspiring parterx and parterx that want to connect with like-minded individuals, but also want to learn more about themselves and get clarity on how to continue moving forward on the Parterx path. This is a transformative mentorship, if you are ready for the next step, take this mentorship.”

“This mentorship bridges the gap between institutional midwifery/birth work education and the sacred spiritual art of midwifery/birth work.’

Sonia L.

“The teachings definitely helped me with personal growth.At the beginning of the mentorship, I had a lot of doubts about my next steps. I was constantly questioning myself, should I do this? How? What if? etc. Fortunately, each session helped me get more clarity.”

Confidence and Intentional

A.B

“I am more confident about my birth work practice and my midwifery/Parterx journey. I am more intentional with what I do. I have been enforcing my boundaries.”

“The mentorship cohort was everything I didn't know I needed"

Miriam

"I came in looking to find community, and although I did, I was led to find myself through the reflections and openness of those that became friends and allies. This cohort was a synchronicity of all involved. Different journeys, different cultures, different people but an aligned path, to say the least.”

Truly transformative

K. Cruz

The mentorship program I participated in was truly transformative in every aspect of my being. It allowed me to delve into different areas of birthwork and gain new perspectives, ultimately giving me the courage to explore my interests further.

Nourished my spirit

Fatima Chavez

I am constantly unfolding and saying yes. This could not come to fruition without community support. The mentorship nourished my spirit and lifted my confidence. Since then I feel rooted to keep expanding my skills and sharing with folks my aspirations of midwifery.

The cohort experience was very wholesome, powerful and uplifting.

Elena M.

We discussed themes that I had never had the opportunity to talk with amongst other women, and just hold space for each other to process and heal deeper wounds whether they were mother wounds, trauma, birth, trauma, personal trauma. It was a very Ancestral way of holding space. The cohort mentorship was created to guide future midwives in becoming a midwife. The mentorship values midwifery as a very sacred responsibility that holds high regard and the mentorship honored that responsibility and we had different opportunities to reflect on what it meant to do the work, and not only think about ourselves or the parents but the children as well. It was a very generational connection that we were making.

I am deeply grateful to have been a part of this sacred space

D.O.

It was a very beautiful virtual space to connect with birthkeepers and birthworkers sharing, storytelling, healing, learning and dialogue for the reclamation and restoration of original and community midwifery, birth work as an embodied practice, decolonizing midwifery practices and apprenticeships, this work as an “act of resistance” to the current western framework.

“Personally, this mentorship helped reawaken my DNA and ancestral memories"

Megan

"This mentorship is a must for BIPOC aspiring parterx and parterx that want to connect with like-minded individuals, but also want to learn more about themselves and get clarity on how to continue moving forward on the Parterx path. This is a transformative mentorship, if you are ready for the next step, take this mentorship.”

“This mentorship bridges the gap between institutional midwifery/birth work education and the sacred spiritual art of midwifery/birth work.’

Sonia L.

“The teachings definitely helped me with personal growth.At the beginning of the mentorship, I had a lot of doubts about my next steps. I was constantly questioning myself, should I do this? How? What if? etc. Fortunately, each session helped me get more clarity.”

Confidence and Intentional

A.B

“I am more confident about my birth work practice and my midwifery/Parterx journey. I am more intentional with what I do. I have been enforcing my boundaries.”
  • What is a Parterx?

Meet your Mentor

Partera

Tema Mercado

Tema Mercado is a Xicana Licensed Midwife in California and Partera Profesional Certificada in Mexico , mother to six children and a grandmother. She believes that birth work can change the world and has dedicated the last 11 years to birth and reproductive justice on the U.S Mexico Border serving families on both sides of the border. Tema was born and raised in San Jose, California and spent her adolescence in Mexicali, Baja California. Her midwifery practice and overall work in the community stems from a social justice and heart perspective. Tema is a traditional singer and story teller, these two gifts led her to share her voice as a speaker and facilitator. She believes that knowledge sharing is essential for the preservation of cultural healing arts. To find out more about Tema and her work, you can visit her website http://www.lamatrizbirth.com/ and her IG page @matrizmidwife.

Mentorship Pricing

You must first apply before enrolling. Click on the teal "Apply Now" button at the top of the page.

FAQ

  • Who is the mentorship for ?

    This mentorship is for those who aspire and identify with the Partera role from a cultural and spiritual perspective. This mentorship is BIPOC led and created with BIPOC Parteras in mind.

  • Do I have to be a birth-worker to join?

    The mentorship will best serve those who have already began their Partera or birthwork journey. This is suitable for birth attendants, doulas, student midwives, new midwives, postpartum practitioners, perinatal educators, perinatal herbalist and or perinatal bodyworkers.

  • Do you offer scholarships?

    We work very hard year round to raise scholarship funds. We offer partial scholarships on a first come first serve basis. There is no separate scholarship application. There's one application with the option of requesting a scholarship.

  • When will you offer a new mentorship course?

    Sometime in 2025!

  • Why is this only for BIPOC ?

    All of my former courses and workshops have been open to everyone. However, this particular mentorship course is specifically, for BIPOC aspiring Parteras for several important reasons. The biggest reason is creating a space where we can share our common lived experiences as BIPOC Parteras, which can vary greatly from the experience of a Midwife who belongs to the dominant culture. Fortunately, there are several birth work mentorship programs by and for dominate culture midwives.