By Sarah Morgan Johnson
The first cohort of the newly re-established Master of Science in Nursing Nurse-Midwifery Pathway is graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing in August 2024. The pathway was reinstated in 2022 and is the only nurse-midwifery pathway offered in Alabama.
Associate Professor and MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway Director of Clinical Education Elizabeth Muñoz, DNP, CNM, and Associate Professor and MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway Director of Didactic Education Professor Sharon Holley, DNP, MSN (MSN 1996), are grateful for the School’s support of the pathway and their students.
“To have the support of leadership and of people who are providing scholarships to our students, to have these people see the value in nurse-midwifery is just astounding,” Holley said.
“The return of the Nurse-Midwifery Pathway marks another commitment by the School to improve the lives and health of the people of Alabama,” Muñoz said. "The maternal and infant mortality rates in the state are among the worst in the country. The UABSON recognized that certified nurse-midwives can be part of the solution in turning around those outcomes.”
The first graduating MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway cohort consists of four students who came into the program with prior nursing experience in the maternal-child health.
“The number one thing across this cohort is just that they are all so caring,” Muñoz said. “We seem to have gotten four of the most compassionate, patient nurses who have that therapeutic presence that you cannot teach.”
Three of the four graduating students plan to continue their practice in Alabama, creating a tangible impact on health care in the state.
Holley, who graduated from the School’s Nurse-Midwifery Pathway in 1996, is eager to see these new nurse-midwives go out into the world and take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way.
“The opportunity to come back to UAB to reopen this program has meant so much to me personally. Every faculty member who has been working with the nurse-midwifery students is so excited and proud to see them graduate. We are beaming, and we cannot wait to see what they will do next,” Holley said.
Over the next several years, Holley and Muñoz hope that as the MSN Nurse-Midwifery Pathway grows so will the positive impact on maternal and infant health in Alabama.
“I am hopeful as a midwife that the success of our program leads to bigger successes across the state,” Muñoz said. “Give us a few years, but I foresee positive changes in maternal and infant mortality in Alabama.”
Nurse-Midwifery is one of the key initiatives of the School’s Women and Children Health Initiative, which encompasses all the School’s maternal and child health focused work across its teaching, research and practice missions.
“The vision of WACHI is to achieve a future where women and children in Alabama are healthy and achieving their highest potential,” said WACHI Director, Professor and Chair of the Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care Allison Shorten, PhD, FACM, FNAP, FAAN. "Our nurse-midwifery graduates are ready to make a difference, as we work together to improve the health of mothers and babies in our state."
