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.

After traveling to Haiti in 2003 as part of a medical team, Nadene Brunk, CNM, witnessed first hand the lack of resources and skilled care for pregnant women. Determined to provide a long term solution, Nadene formed a small team of volunteer midwives and medical professionals and soon returned to Haiti. At the request of a Haitian community leader, she established a culturally appropriate training program for Haitian nurses in Hinche. Today that program is known as Midwives for Haiti. As of 2015, Midwives for Haiti has graduated nearly 100 Skilled Birth Attendants. These women and mean, armed with the knowledge and skills to educate and care for their own communities, will be the change-makers of Haiti.

Hear about the successes and challenges of the Reading Health team. With a physician and nurse-midwife team as well as a multi-setting environment including a birth center and hospital practice, insights will be shared that can be applied to any collaborative practice.

This session focuses on providing helpful tips to the nurse-midwifery student. Learn how to identify your resources and utilize them to support your success in achieving your dream of becoming a nurse-midwife.

Cynthia Williams, Director at UF Health Birth Center, will share insights on how their team of providers work together to offer the best possible care for women. The UF Health midwifery team is composed of 2 CNMs, and 3 LMs who work closely with the College of Medicine, Dept of OB-GYN physicians. Hear how this birth center listens to mothers-to-be and creates a unique center offering a comfortable, calming, home-like environment where mothers can give birth in a soothing setting with their loved ones and family around them. “This is something a lot of women want, and we want to provide it for them, but we want to do it in the safest way possible,” said Guy Benrubi, MD, FACOG, University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville senior associate dean for faculty affairs and chair of obstetrics and gynecology.

Learn about how the birth center model of care is being brought to the forefront through collaboration to extend the range of options available to women and their families. Birth centers are a significant part of an evidence-based, high-value strategy for maternity care, and a team approach is bringing this to Main Street.

Join Frontier Nursing University Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, Preceptors, Supporters and Friends from across the country for this virtual circle-up session. By joining this session for only a few minutes, you will be demonstrating your support of meeting the challenge of providing quality care to all families worldwide. The "Circle-Up" session is a Frontier Nursing […]

Learn more about the state of health care in the US, maternal and neonatal outcomes and why change is needed now. Midwives must be part of the solution and lobby in order to achieve the needed change.

In celebration of National Midwifery Week and the 2016 “Let Our Stories Move You to Answer the Call” Digital Summit, we will be sharing special stories from Kitty Ernst herself. Every morning around 8:00 a.m. ET, we will be sharing a new video on this page with one of Kitty’s inspirational stories. We hope her messages inspire you to continue to Answer the Call as a nurse-midwife or supporter of nurse-midwifery care.

Join us live for a FREE CE! Dr. Todd Carter will present a "Pharmacology Update: What's New for Women in Primary Care Practice." This continuing education session will allow you to discuss changes in current medications prescribed for women in primary care, distinguish pertinent pharmacokinetics for current medications used in the primary care of women and interpret clinical applications for current medications used in the primary care of women.

Join us live via Google Hangouts on Air to celebrate the 90th birthday of Kitty Ernst. We invite you to be a part of this special celebration. Sign on at 6:30 PM to help us blow out the candles, have a toast and to give Kitty your personal birthday wishes.

For half a century, Kitty has been a pioneer in both the field of midwifery and in developing the best care possible for families in pregnancy and birth. Please enjoy her full bio below.

Join Frontier Nursing University Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, Preceptors, Supporters and Friends from across the country for this virtual circle-up session. By joining this session for only a few minutes, you will be demonstrating your support of the movement toward meeting the challenge of providing quality care to all families worldwide.

The “Circle-Up” session is a Frontier Nursing University tradition students, faculty, and staff have participated in for decades. At the end of each campus experience, students, faculty and staff join hands to form a circle. Each person in the circle is invited to reflect or share their thoughts, emotions or take-away points from the event they have just experienced. It is a time to show appreciation to one another and to the Frontier experience as a whole.

Hear stories from FNU preceptors about how they are giving back to the nurse-midwifery profession by molding our future nurse-midwives. We hope you'll be inspired to take action and get moving now to find your role in the mission of making more midwives. Preceptors are truly touching more families and more lives through student hands. If you feel inspired to move your career forward and shape the future of midwifery care by becoming a preceptor, we'd love for you to connect with us today at frontier.edu/preceptor.

The number of midwifery-led birth centers has increased 65% in the past eight years and the hope is that this model of care will continue to grow. Get a glimpse into a typical day at a midwifery-led birth center by taking a virtual tour. Hear the heartwarming stories of families who chose birth center care and from nurse-midwives and birth center leaders on the importance of increasing care options for women and families.

Birth centers are the heart of midwifery and protecting, and honoring and nurturing birth centers is key for advancing midwifery care. Hear the inspiring story of FNU graduate Tracy Ryan as she shares the challenges and triumphs encountered throughout her journey as a certified nurse-midwife supporting the birth center model of care. All midwives can unite and find their place in supporting birth centers whether it be through advocating for birth centers, working in a birth center, advancing research and clinical practice for this model of care or actually playing a role in opening a birth center in your community. We hope Tracy's story will help you grow closer to finding your place in moving the heart of midwifery forward.

Hear from several FNU Doctor of Nursing Practice students about their DNP projects and the impact of their project work on their local community healthcare. They will also share why the DNP is essential in their career journey as a nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) was developed to meet the demand for advanced practice nursing leaders in an increasingly complex health care system. Hear from FNU Doctor of Nursing Practice graduates and how their DNP degree was essential to improving the healthcare of their communities. Stories of DNP projects and community outcomes will demonstrate the impact of advancing your education and clinical leadership.

Midwives don't just provide maternity care and attend births. Many midwives are taking their career a step further to ensure they are prepared to take care of the entire family and to provide not only primary and maternity care but also the mental health of the women they serve. As healthcare needs and the system change, the modern midwife will have a larger role to play in women's healthcare and health of the entire family in the U.S.

Hear how Certified Nurse-Midwives have touched the lives of families through the personal stories of those who have received nurse-midwifery care.

Nurse-midwives are primary health care providers to women throughout the lifespan. Hear stories from Certified Nurse-Midwives about their journeys, why they chose this career path and what drives their passion to care for women, children and families.