Strong Start and the Midwifery Model of Care in Birth Centers

This presentation will describe the background and purpose of the Strong Start program and AABC enrollment goals, project and evaluation design, a look at preliminary data, and how this research may impact future access to midwifery and birth center care.

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Speaker

Jill Alliman, CNM, DNP – Project Director, AABC Strong Start; Course Faculty, FNU; Chair, AABC Legislative Committee

As a birth center midwife in rural Appalachia for 28 years, Jill Alliman has worked to improve access to care for some of the most underserved women in the US. She serves as course faculty at Frontier Nursing University in the Nurse-Midwifery education program. She is Program Director of the AABC Strong Start project, a grant program to measure the impact of birth center care on the reduction of preterm birth rates, collecting data in 45 birth centers with funding from CMS.

Her educational background is: Nurse-Midwifery Certificate, 1986, Medical University of South Carolina; Master’s in Nursing in Midwifery, 1993, Case Western Reserve; Doctorate of Nursing Practice, 2013, Frontier Nursing University. She is Past President of the American Association of Birth Centers, and currently serves as Chair of the AABC Legislative Committee.

Ms. Alliman believes that giving birth in the birth center can be a transformative experience for women–including the neediest–empowering them to improve their families’ situations for the better. Having helped a rural birth center to survive for over 26 years, she now uses her experience to make contributions to extending the birth center model of care to a wider group of women. In February 2013, she became Project Director of AABC Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns. Over four years, this project will measure the impact of enhanced birth center care on preterm birth rates. Her work with the American Association of Birth Centers has demonstrated that even a small group of innovative, dedicated individuals can make a significant impact on health care for women and newborns.