Premier Sessions

As requested by our members at the 2009 ACNM Business Meeting, ACNM has invited Michelle Obama to be our premier speaker on Monday June 14, 8:00am - 9:00am. The First Lady does not commit to speaking engagements more than 60 days prior to the event (i.e., in this case, April 14).  Stay tuned on this page and with ACNM Annual Meeting communications for more information.

Opening General Session Premier Presentation

Transforming Maternity Care:  From Vision to Action

Sunday, June 13  8:00am - 9:00am

CEU:  .1

Presented by Rima Jolivet, CNM, MSN, IBCLC

The evidence is mounting on how best to improve maternity care in the U.S., and midwives and a returned emphasis on normal physiologic childbirth are key parts of the solution.  But can we actually transform maternity care in this country?  This premier session will spotlight "Transforming Maternity Care" an exciting multi-year collaborative project led by New York City-based Childbirth Connection, and the project's most recent reports.  The "2020 Vision for a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System" identifies values, principles and attributes of an optimal maternity care system. The second report, a "Blueprint for Action," charts the path toward optimal care.  Come and be inspired that consensus is building beyond the midwifery community about evidence-based maternity care, and hear about the critical changes that will be needed to bring improved care for women and their newborns.  

Rima Jolivet is Associate Director of Programs for Childbirth Connection. She received a BA in French literature and worked promoting French cinema in the United States before turning to a career in midwifery and women's health following the birth of her son in the UK, where midwifery is the standard of care for low-risk women. On the pathway to becoming a midwife, Rima worked as a childbirth educator, a doula and interpreter for non-English speaking women in labor, a breastfeeding counselor, and then a lactation consultant.  She studied nursing at Georgetown University and received her degree in midwifery from Yale University.  Thereafter, she practiced midwifery in a variety of settings, including federally qualified health centers, private and hospital based practices, birth centers, a home-birth practice, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a large government teaching hospital, where she was interim Patient Safety Director. She received a master's degree in public health in 2005 from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences where she is currently working to complete a doctorate in public health. Rima came to Childbirth Connection from the American College of Nurse-Midwives, where she was Senior Technical Advisor in the Department of Professional Services, working to address the spectrum of issues facing members of the profession of midwifery, and specializing in the areas of quality improvement and patient safety.  She is on the teaching faculty of Centering Pregnancy and Parenting Association and leads training workshops in the CenteringPregnancy model of group prenatal care around the country.  She is also a member of the OB/GYN faculty at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and teaches medical students and residents there.  Rima lives in the suburban Washington, DC area with her teenaged son, Lucas. They enjoy art, film, and music and like to travel. 

Opening General Session

Sunday, June 13

Presented by Alan R. Fleischman, MD

Dr. Alan Fleischman is senior vice president and medical director of the March of Dimes Foundation. He has published and lectured extensively in many areas of perinatal medicine and has been a pioneer in the field of bioethics, emphasizing the rights of individual patients and the responsibilities of health care professionals and organizations.

Dr. Fleischman is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the City College of New York and Alpha Omega Alpha from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He continued his education in Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and completed a Fellowship in Perinatal Physiology at the National Institutes of Health and through a Royal Society of Medicine Foundation Scholarship at Oxford University in England.

In 1994, Dr. Fleischman became senior vice president of the New York Academy of Medicine, where he catalyzed the Academy's growth into a research intensive institution in areas related to urban health, medical education, public policy, bioethics, and public health. In 2004, he became ethics advisor to the National Children's Study at the National Institutes of Health and was chair of the Federal Advisory Committee to the study from 2005 to 2010. He was a founding member and is currently still a member of the New York State Governor's Task Force on Life and the Law, and a member of the DHHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections' Subcommittee on Research Involving Children.

Joint Risk Management Premier Session

Law and Order: An Update from the ACNM Professional Liability Section

Monday, June 14, 5:00pm - 6:00pm

CEU: .1

Presented by  William F. McCool, CNM, PhD, FACNM; Mamie Guidera, CNM, MSN; Tina Johnson, CNM, MS, ACNM Director of Professional Practice & Health Policy; and Israel Teitelbaum: Contemporary Insurance Company

Are you wondering if you are the only midwife who has ever been named in a suit? It’s up to you to learn more about why midwives get sued, or what kind of malpractice insurance you should carry? Understanding malpractice, lawsuits, risk management, and prevention strategies has become all too important for midwives in today’s current healthcare environment. This session attempts to debunk myths surrounding midwives, malpractice, and lawsuits. Panelists will share most frequent reasons for litigation, rates of midwifery litigation, and frequently asked questions about malpractice -- with an eye toward developing risk management strategies that may decrease the incident of lawsuits in one’s practice. 

Dr. William F. McCool is Term Associate Professor in Women's Health and Nurse Midwifery and Clinician Educator at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. McCool graduated from midwifery school in 1984, practices fullscope midwifery care through his affiliation with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), and is the first midwife to have practiced there, at the Helen O. Dickens Center for Women's Health. Dr. McCool teaches on the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Mamie Guidera was educated at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. She has worked in home birth, birth center, and tertiary care hospital settings as a practice director and laborist. She is currently on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Medical School, and works in clinical practice at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Professional Liability Section of ACNM, has done research on midwives' experience of loss and litigation both in the United States and globally, and provides expert witness and review for litigation involving midwives. Over the last several years, Ms. Guidera has travelled with students to Honduras, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic to provide health care to women and children, do research, and train midwives/traditional birth attendants.

Therese Dondero Lecture

Lessons from a Princess: Maternal Mortality in the United States

Tuesday, June 15, 8:00am - 9:00am

CEU: .1

Presented by Richard Waldman, MD, FACOG, President-Elect, American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists

The Therese Dondero Lecture is sponsored annually by the A.C.N.M. Foundation, Inc., in conjunction with the Therese Dondero Memorial Lecture Fund.

We only need to look at history to understand the impact of maternal mortality on society and to our caregivers. The nature of maternal mortality has changed in recent years and after a golden era of success, we are now facing an upswing in our maternal mortality ratio. While we are looking to enhance our dedication and enthusiasm for improving maternity care outcomes we are also facing a potential shortage of obstetrical care providers.  The future of improving the healthcare to women will depend on successful collaboration.

Dr. Richard Waldman is the President-elect of the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. He is the former Chairman of District II of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists and former Chairman of the Council of District Chairs of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists in Washington, D.C. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Medical Liability Insurance Company.  For the last several years he has been listed as one of the Best Doctors in America. 

He received his medical degree from the New Jersey College of Medicine in 1972. In 1976 he completed his Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, New York. After a two year United States Air Force obligation, he returned to Syracuse and has been practicing there ever since. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Waldman has received several honors including a United States Air Force Commendation Medal, a District Service Award and a Section service award from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists, and an award for community service from the Onondaga County Medical Society.

Listening to Women: Our Sisters, Our Voices, Our Action

Wednesday, June 16, 8:00am - 9:00am

CEU: .1

Christy Turlington Burns, Maternal Health Advocate

Theresa Shaver, Director, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, Global Secretariat – Washington, DC

From Christy Turlington Burns' perspective as a mother, public health student, CARE Advocate for Maternal Health and the director of No Woman, No Cry – her feature documentary film profiling the quiet crisis of maternal health in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala, and the United States – Christy Turlington Burns will discuss how she became involved in maternal health and her efforts to engage a mainstream audience to effectively raise awareness about this largely overlooked global tragedy. Christy will provide a firsthand account of her experiences of the global reality of what women face before, during, and after childbirth around the world. When a mother dies, her community is devastated. Her children are up to 10 times more likely to die within two years. They are less likely to be immunized, more likely to be malnourished, more likely to contact HIV, and more likely to be exploited. Christy will also share how world leaders made a commitment for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), yet MDG 5 (reduction of maternal mortality by 75%) continues to see the least progress of the eight goals established in 2000.

Christy will introduce and show a brief clip from her documentary – No Woman, No Cry.

Theresa Shaver will give a brief description of the work of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and how Alliance members are addressing MDG 5. She will also explain the common threads for maternal mortality both nationally and internationally. Come and hear about exciting efforts to address maternal health and how you can be a part of a global movement to demand political commitment and action now.

Objectives:

• To describe why maternal mortality continues to be high in the US and globally.
• To discuss examples of global and grassroots efforts to achieve MDG 5
• To describe how the voices and actions of midwives can help end the needless deaths of  
•   women who die every minute of every day in pregnancy and childbirth

Christy Turlington Burns, is a CARE Advocate for Maternal Health, documentary filmmaker, contributing editor at Marie Claire Magazine, and author of Living Yoga: Creating a Life Practice. In 2005, she began working with the international humanitarian organization CARE and has since become their Advocate for Maternal Health. She has also been an Ambassador for (RED) since their launch in 2006. Her work on behalf of CARE and (RED) has inspired her to pursue a Masters in Public Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School where she is currently in her second year. Christy is also currently directing and producing her first documentary feature film entitled, "No Woman, No Cry" (nowomannocrythemovie.com, for release in 2010). “No Woman, No Cry” is intended to raise awareness about the under-reported problem of rising Maternal Mortality rates while illuminating several clear "take action" plans for making progress.

With more than twenty-five years at the forefront of the fashion industry, having graced every magazine cover from Vogue to Time, Christy Turlington Burns has established a diverse career as a model, writer, entrepreneur, spokesperson, advocate, and filmmaker. Philanthropy and service have long been a part of Christy's personal and professional mission to make a lasting impact on the world.

Theresa Shaver is a nurse-midwife and has more than 20 years of experience in international health program management and implementation, focused primarily on maternal and reproductive health. She is currently the Director of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA) Global Secretariat. As Director, Ms. Shaver serves as the spokesperson for the WRA, provides technical assistance in community mobilization, capacity building, advocacy and maternal health to WRA National Secretariats and members. She also leads all fundraising efforts and is responsible for WRA administrative and financial management. She has provided technical assistance and worked throughout Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Malawi, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.