Biography

II am a Certified Nurse Midwife with experience in clinical service delivery and policy development at national, state and local levels, academia and community service. My first experience in hospitals was as a Candy Striper volunteer. I started my professional journey as a nursing assistant. I am originally a diploma nursing graduate. I pursued my BSN, MS/CNM/MPH and PhD as a single parent. I have a great appreciation for students who are integrating education into their lives, not an easy road. I have taught in several midwifery education programs and I truly enjoy working with students and helping them grow. Some of the things I have done over the years include: providing direction for midwifery/ medical/primary care model for Women’s Health Center program; developing innovative programs for delivering prenatal care; directing the education/clinical component in OBGYN for the first APRN residency program in the US: increasing access to prenatal care by helping to design the first Medicaid access program at State level as part of public health team; increasing breastfeeding rates by staff education, pt education and patient care, as part of midwifery/pediatric team; helped to change public health policy and develop first breast feeding coalitions in New York State; Influenced national policy by serving on team that developed the National Breastfeeding Coalition; led the development of first hospital-based parent education program in Washington DC that is still in existence. I am excited to be working with you all.