Talk of the Towns 12/9/20: The Promise of Midwifery for Maine

Producer/Host: Ron Beard What is the history of midwifery? What is the current status of midwifery in Maine? What are the challenges to access to care, especially to women in rural areas… how does midwifery play a role in this? How does someone become a midwife? ( education and levels of practice) What are the advantages and challenges of starting an independent private practice. How are midwives/ midwifery care incorporated into Family Practice Residencies? What is the student experience, advantages of being a student in Maine and challenges with finding preceptors and meeting practice requirements. What are the key challenges to unlocking the promise of midwifery for Maine, and your hopes for the future? Guests: Cathy Heffernan, Certified Nurse Midwife, Bridgton Linda Robinson, President, Maine Affiliate American College of Nurse Midwives, Bar Harbor Kristen Hayward, Certified Nurse Midwife, Owner Anchored Women’s Health, Ellsworth Angela Ripley, Faculty, Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency, Augusta Nakeisha Lindsey, midwifery student , Georgetown University, Bangor About the host: Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.