A message from Dr. Susan Stone, Frontier
Nursing University President:
The Frontier Nursing University (FNU)
community believes that now is the time to advocate for action to improve maternity care. For that reason we are partnering with March for Moms, a rally advocating for mother’s rights. We invite you to join us on Sunday, May 14, from 1 – 4 p.m. at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.
During the event you will have the opportunity to connect with FNU alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends and enjoy a fun afternoon standing up for action to improve maternity care. FNU will also be sponsoring the guest speaker, David Monteith, U.K. Actor, as he leads us in defining some key issues that contribute to the worsening health of moms and babies.
I would also like to share with you a recent interview with Dr. Neel Shah, MD, MPP who is an obstetrician and faculty member at Harvard Medical School as well as co-founder of March for Moms. A primary goal of his career is to improve the safety and cost of maternity care.
Sincerely, Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FNU President
Interview with Dr. Neal Shaw, Co-founder of March for Moms and Harvard Obstetrician:
There are a lot of marches these days…do we really need a march for moms?
The past few months have brought the world a lot of shocking news. One positive consequence of these uncertain times is that it has stoked a fire of activism in the United States in a way that we have not seen in decades. We are seeing people of all stripes stand up and advocate for the issues they care deeply about, from science on Earth Day to the wellbeing of moms on Mother’s Day.
Here’s the thing: moms are used to putting themselves last in order to put their families first. We believe it is high time to give our moms the support and public investment they deserve.
Right now, one in every three Americans is born through major surgery—twice as many as are medically necessary. At the same time, we have the highest rates of maternal death and injury, the lowest birth weights, and the widest disparities in the entire developed world. If that wasn’t bad enough, we also have the worst paid family leave policies in the entire developed world.
My colleagues and I believe the United States of America can do a lot better. That’s why we’re going to be at the Jefferson Memorial on May 14th.
What are you hoping to accomplish?
We all love our own moms, but the way we treat moms collectively in this country is shameful. Moms are resilient—even when things are tough, they seldom complain.
The goal of March for Moms is to ensure they get the support and investment they deserve, whether they complain or not.
How are you going to do this?
First we created a canvas – the Thomas Jefferson Memorial on Mother’s Day. Then we built a wireframe: a platform of bipartisan issues that everyone can agree are hugely important—from preventing an alarming rate of maternal death, to investing in moms who also work with paid family leave. Within weeks, we had dozens of leading American organizations co-creating the event with us—they are collectively financing and promoting a rally that will gather thousands of families on the National Mall, and feature speakers, entertainers, celebrities, and policymakers.
We will also be hosting a Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill, followed by a lobbying day directed toward a set of specific bills.
Who are you working with?
March for Moms started from a conversation between leaders of two professional organizations in maternal health—the American College of Nurse Midwives and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It has since grown to include more than twenty organizations, including Every Mother Counts, March of Dimes, Lamaze International, the National Partnership for Women and Families, and many others.
Ok. I’m fired up. How can I be a part of this?
Three ways. First, show up. This is a historic event –the first time anything like this has happened—we need you there for it to be as successful as possible. Second, invest—any amount, even just $10, will go a long way towards making sure we capture the attention of policymakers. Third, share. Tell everyone you know—we’re on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. www.MarchforMoms.org
By: Dr. Neal Shah, Co-founder of March for Moms and Harvard Obstetrician
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).