The school of public health arranges a luncheon for all the dual degree candidates each fall.  It allows those of us from different programs to meet each other.  By far, the largest number of dual degree candidates is from the medical school (they have 26 this year), and most of them are in the epidemiology department.  But there are other candidates from the physician’s assistant school, business school, law school, last year I had a class with a dual degree from the school of theology and this year I meed a dual candidate from the physical therapy school. This year, there are 11 MSN/MPH candidates in residence in the school of public health.  Four of us are student midwives also in the department of global health.

I remembered last year when one of the second year MSN/MPHs told me the dual nurses are almost always global health or BSHE (short for behavioral sciences health education). She was right.  Of the eleven of us, one is BSHE, one is health policy and management, one is epidemiology and nine are global health.  Perhaps it is because nursing is so public health focused to begin with, the nurses tend not to feel the need for the public health school unless they want to become involved in international work.

The MSN/Global Health candidates I met have amazing international experiences already, before any of them step into their first global health class.  It brings me back to the question I frequently get about how a person becomes involved in global midwifery. Honestly, it isn’t the same for everyone.  In our small group of nurses we had international volunteers with MSF and peace core.  We also had military nurses and some involved in domestic care of under-served populations.  My point is, not one of these nurses was involved in the short-term medical missions most people expect to be able to do in midwifery. Global nursing, and global midwifery, is really more of a calling than a hobby.

While I’ll see these students around the public health school, I won’t see them in the nursing school…yet.  The program has just changed (quite wisely) to require the year of public health before beginning the nursing program.  So next week I’ll have the opportunity to meet the new group of first year midwifery students.  It is hard to believe that by the end of this semester half of my class will be finished, ready to take their certifying exam and practicing as midwives.  Honestly, it went so fast.

Tomorrow I am off to Nairobi to help a friend as she trains doulas. Very excited to participate, and you can follow the story at the Birth in Central Africa blog, even though Nairobi isn’t central.

As part of our issues in midwifery class each student midwife had to present on a topic of current interest to midwives.  I chose the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health. I felt confident before the presentation, but 15 minutes goes fast and I’m not sure I did a good job of explaining everything.  If you are interested in global midwifery (and missed my presentation in class today  check out their website to see what the member organizations are doing.

I know I have been busy, and believe me when I say I have a long list of information I would love to be sharing on this blog.  I have been spending this summer away from home – literally.  I started by attending the ACNM conference in San Antonio, TX.  I had a week or two of class and then spent two weeks working at a Farm Worker health program coordinated through my school.  Fabulous experience, but not easy to keep up with six classes when you have been gone  three of the six weeks of classes!  July is spent in class two days a week and on call at the birth center the other five.  And in just three weeks I’ll have finished my final exams a week early so I can spend 10 days in Kenya assisting at a doula training.  I’ve learned to love coffee.

So, I promise as soon as I complete all the assignments (this seems to be a report and presentation semester rather than a testing semester) I will start uploading more information than you ever wanted. But today, in researching my presentation on ending maternal mortality around the world I found something too good not to share.  It is full online access to the annual maternal and child health epidemiology conference.  I know not everyone wants to become a midwife because of global issues, but if you are one who does this free content will be a great way to become familiar with information you need to know.

Check out the link here: 16th Annual Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Conference

Enjoy!

I realize that not every midwife is interested in epidemiology. So I thought I would balance yesterday’s resource with a more practical, clinical resource. It is the Hesperian Foundation’s Book for Midwives. Even if you never plan to work in a developing country, this book is worth reading twice.

What I find most appealing about the book is the way it teaches simple, low cost solutions to identify health problems. It also does a great job of differentiating the normal from the problem. Best of all, it is written for individuals without medical training. That makes it a great first midwifery book.

When a family seeks information from me about giving birth unassisted, I always recommend they become familiar with this book. I like the tools shared in the book that any family can use to make decisions. I also appreciate the way the book is written without leaving the reader feeling birth is a disaster waiting to happen. This makes the book culturally acceptable to families who would dismiss other educational materials written from a “fear” perspective.

You can download a free copy of the book, but I recommend purchasing the book not only to have a hard copy to study, but also to support the work of the Hesperian Foundation. When you become familiar with the Book for Midwives, you can begin to explore the other books to learn even more low-tech, low-cost tricks to help families maintain their health.

For those of you interested in global midwifery, I am excited to share a resource I just discovered (well, discovered when my professor showed us during a lecture at any rate). It is the website of the Disease Control Priorities Project, and you can see it at dcp2.org.

What can you gain from getting familiar with this website?  A wide range of information about maternal and child health needs from all over the world.  Exactly the type of evidence you might need to formulate a plan or seek funding for your plan.

As a quick example, look on the right hand side of the page for the Quick Link drop boxes.  Pick a country or region that interests you, might be your own or a country where you would like to work.  Then select Maternal & Newborn conditions from the second drop box. Then select the topic you would like to research.  I have selected to look at contributing and risk factors for maternal and child health in the United States (because thats where I live right now).

Immediately I have access to the chapter(s) of relevance to me.  I can select a chapter, see the topics within that chapter and begin my research. It even gives me listings of resources used to compile the information.  It is a great place to begin any research.

I hope this link helps you find information you need to direct your midwifery career.