American College of Nurse-Midwives Inducts New President, Awards Highest Honors for Significant Service to Midwifery and Women at Nashville Annual Meeting
For Immediate ReleaseJune 4, 2013
Contact: Damaris Hay
Office: (240) 485-1856
Email: [email protected]
Click here to download this release
Silver
Spring, MD - The American College
of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), the leading midwifery organization, welcomed new president Ginger Breedlove, CNM, PhD,
APRN, FACNM, yesterday during its closing business session at the 58th
Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Nashville. After serving 1 year as
president-elect, Breedlove will serve a 3-year term as ACNM President.
Breedlove is a professor
of graduate nursing at the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. She received
her midwifery education from the Medical University of South Carolina and her
PhD from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. She co-founded the first
free-standing birth center in Kansas and established the first nurse-midwifery
practice in the greater Kansas City metro area. Breedlove also co-established and served as program director of the
University of Kansas nurse-midwifery education program and has served as a volunteer leader of the Kansas March of Dimes, a
charter member of the Kansas Maternal Child Health Coalition, and a consultant
to AMOS Health and Hope in Managua, Nicaragua. She has served 2 previous terms
on the ACNM Board of Directors as secretary.
Breedlove has been published in numerous
scientific journals including the Journal
of Midwifery & Women's Health, the Journal
of Perinatal Education, and the Western
Journal of Nursing Research. She co-authored The Community Based Doula: Supporting Families
Before, During and After Birth and
has been interviewed by Oprah and Prevention magazines.
As president, Breedlove will
work with the Board of Directors to implement ACNM's Future
Focus strategic goals, further
establishing midwives as leaders in maternity and women's health services. "I
am excited and humbled to assume this leadership role during such a dynamic
time in the health care community," said Breedlove. "Our strong ACNM staff,
partnered with prepared volunteer leadership, will ensure that ACNM has a
strong presence in order to expand our capacity with diverse partners at the
national, regional, and state levels."
"We want to continue the conversation
with other health care providers to ensure that high-value primary and
maternity care is afforded to all those in need," added ACNM Chief Executive
Officer Lorrie Kline Kaplan, CAE. "Through the Affordable Care Act, more people
than ever will have and require access to primary care providers. Midwives are
incredibly relevant and can be a vital part of the solution."
Other leaders in the
midwifery community were recognized at the ACNM Annual Meeting Awards Dinner on
Saturday evening, receiving the organization's top honors:
Tekoa L. King, CNM, MPH, FACNM, is the 2013
recipient of the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award. A graduate from the University of
California at San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing in 1975, Georgetown
University School of Nursing where she obtained a certificate in midwifery, and
the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health, Ms. King is
recognized for her exemplary work as editor-in-chief and deputy editor of the Journal
of Midwifery & Women's Health. She has taught residents, medical
students, and midwifery students for more than 20 years at UCSFin the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Tekoa King is currently an associate
clinical professor in the UCSF School of Nursing. Ms. King has served on expert
panels for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is a frequent speaker at
conferences and the author of numerous articles in leading peer-reviewed
journals and book chapters. She is co-editor of Pharmacology for Women's
Health, which won ACNM's Book of the Year award in 2010 and is considered
by many to be the definitive women's health pharmacology text.
The Hattie Hemschemeyer
Award, named in honor of ACNM's first president and a pioneer of the
profession, is ACNM's most prestigious award and is given annually to an ACNM
member who has been certified for at least 10 years and has made continuous
outstanding and/or historically significant contributions to midwifery, ACNM,
and/or maternal child health.
Terrah Stroda, CNM, is the 2013 recipient of the Kitty
Ernst Award. A 2003 graduate from the University of Kansas School of Nursing, Stroda
is known for her passion and initiative to improve the lives of families in the
rural areas she serves through midwifery-based care. She led a multi-disciplinary initiative, Delivering Change, to improve
outcomes for mothers and babies in Geary County, Kansas. Stroda was awarded the
Saving Babies award, the highest accolade given, by the Kansas March of Dimes
last fall. In addition to teaching, Stroda has been
involved with numerous educational committees.
The Kitty Ernst Award,
affectionately known as the "Young Whippersnapper Award," is named after the
College's fourth and youngest president, and one of its most dynamic living
legends. The Kitty Ernst Award was established in 1998 to honor an ACNM member
who has been certified for less than 10 years and has demonstrated innovative, creative
endeavors in clinical practice, education, administration, or research relating
to midwifery and women's health.
Susan Sizemore, CNM, ARNP,
and Victoria H. Burslem, MSN, CNM, RN, are the 2013 recipients of the Dorothea
M. Lang Pioneer Award. Sizemore attended the
Johns Hopkins Hospital and Norfolk General Hospital's Schools of Nursing. She
completed her nurse-midwifery training at Meharry Medical College with clinical
rotations completed at the US Army Hospital at Fort Campbell, KY (101stAirborne). She is board certified in nurse-midwifery
by the American College of Nurse-Midwives and has been in practice since 1975,
with devotion to patient teaching. Burslem completed
her midwifery education and the course work for her master's degree in
maternal-child nursing from the University of Illinois in December 1976. She received
her MSN in 1979 after completing the thesis requirement. Burslem has a strong
commitment to clinical midwifery education and has been a clinical preceptor
for many nurse-midwifery and other advanced practice nursing students
throughout her career.
Together,
Sizemore and Burslem were recognized for their stalwart efforts to assure
liability insurance and hospital privileges for midwives after facing their own
privileging challenges in Nashville during the early 1980s. The Nashville
community rallied behind the midwives, drawing the attention of Representative
Al Gore, and the Federal Trade Commission became involved in an antitrust suit.
Though the litigation lasted 11 years, the case was ultimately successful -
providing midwives with greater access to hospital privileges and protecting
provider liability insurance.
The Dorothea M. Lang Pioneer
Award honors an exceptional CNM or certified midwife (CM) who is a member of
ACNM, has been certified for at least 10 years, has not previously received the
Hattie Hemschemeyer Award, and has demonstrated pioneering vision and
innovative leadership. Pioneer Award recipients are midwifery's "unsung
heroes." The Lang Award recipients are chosen by the A.C.N.M. Foundation, Inc.
Board of Trustees.
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To learn more about
ACNM or schedule interviews, please contact Damaris Hay, ACNM media relations
specialist at (240) 485-1856 or via e-mail at [email protected].
NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: Photos from award presentations
are available.
The American College of Nurse-Midwives
(ACNM) is the professional association that represents certified nurse-midwives
(CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) in the United States. With roots dating to
1929, ACNM sets the standard for excellence in midwifery education and practice
in the United States and strengthens the capacity of midwives in developing
countries. Our members are primary care providers for women throughout the
lifespan, with a special emphasis on pregnancy, childbirth, and gynecologic and
reproductive health. ACNM reviews research, administers and promotes continuing
education programs, and works with organizations, state and federal agencies,
and members of Congress to advance the well-being of women and infants through
the practice of midwifery. More
information about ACNM can be found at www.midwife.org
8403 Colesville Road, Ste. 1550, Silver Spring, MD
20910-6374 * Phone: (240) 485-1800 * Fax: (240) 485-1818 * www.midwife.org
