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Her leadership and influence extended worldwide. Born in Japan to missionary parents, Ms. Lang returned to Japan in the early 1960s. There she observed midwifery in a hospital setting, with the midwife an integral part of the maternity team. She was determined to replicate this model in MIC. She later served as a midwifery consultant in Puerto Rico, throughout the U.S. and the world. In her long relationship with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), she co-chaired the fundraising for the only ICM Triennial Congress held in the U.S. (1972), represented the ACNM and North America as an Executive Committee member of the ICM, and represented ICM as a nongovernmental organization at the United Nations. Her commitment to interprofessional education and practice was demonstrated by her serving as a member of the committee that developed the first ACNM Joint Statement with American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
As a leader in midwifery and the ACNM, she mentored countless midwives into and through their professional education and practice. The 62nd ACNM Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, May 21-25, will be noted by her colleagues as being the first Annual Meeting that Dorothea Lang missed attending since she began her professional career in the late 1950s. Her mandate to midwives stated: "Yes, go where opportunities are already great! But, also go to places where conditions are terrible! That is where you will show what you as a midwife can truly bring to health care and the community."
She died peacefully in the late afternoon May 16, 2017, age 84, leaving numerous siblings, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, and countless memories among her grateful colleagues and women for whom she provided care. Funeral arrangements are pending and a memorial service will be planned. It was her request that any donations in her name be made to the A.C.N.M. Foundation, Inc. Donations to the A.C.N.M. Foundation, Inc., may be made online at www.midwife.org/Charitable-Contributions. Among its "Midwifery Legacies Project Interviews," the Foundation hosted an appearance by Ms. Lang in 2013 that is available for viewing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppXE-1iSNl8 .
More information about the Dorothea Lang Award: Lang Award Flyer