At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.
For 15 years, FNU Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) student Ifeyinwa “Ify” Obi, RN, MSN, CNM, has provided antepartum, intrapartum, and prenatal care as a nurse-midwife in tribal health, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and rural areas throughout Alaska, the Navajo Nation, and Arizona. Obi is currently practicing in Fort Defiance, Arizona, at Tsehootsooi Medical Center, where the population is predominantly Native American. In serving these underserved populations, Obi has made a tremendous impact in caring for women who typically endure higher rates of maternal complications, infant mortality, and teen births.
Ifeyinwa “Ify” Obi, RN, MSN, CNM, pictured on Frontier Nursing University’s campus.
Throughout her career, Obi noticed how behavioral and mental health problems in women seeking reproductive care were more likely to go unaddressed in rural areas – the very places where women already faced an increased risk of developing perinatal mental illness, like depression and anxiety, as compared to their suburban and urban counterparts. These disparities were even more pronounced among rural women of color. For this reason, after graduating as a PMHNP, Obi would like to continue practicing in underserved populations.
According to 2022 data from the CDC, mental health conditions and hemorrhage were the most common underlying causes of death among American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) people, accounting for 50% of deaths with a known underlying cause. Research supported by the Commonwealth Fund in 2023 found that maternal mortality rates are rising across all races and ethnicities in the U.S. — Black women are dying at nearly triple the rate of white women, and Native American women at double the rate.
“The issue goes beyond inadequate resources,” Obi said. “Women in rural areas have inadequate knowledge and awareness of the importance of seeking perinatal mental health care services.”
Obi recognized that many mothers were unfamiliar with the signs of mental illness, such as low self-esteem and mood, or they attributed their symptoms to hormones or tiredness. Other women withheld negative feelings because they feared their babies might be taken away, while some grappled with being labeled as a “bad mum” for seeking help. Moreover, of the extremely limited mental health services available to Obi’s patients, none of them were mother-centered.
“I believe that practitioners must work to identify and address all of these barriers,” Obi said. “Living and working in rural areas has allowed me to connect with women from diverse backgrounds and empower them to take charge of their health, and to reduce the stigma associated with mental health.”
As a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner student at FNU, Obi is expanding her knowledge to better help the women she serves. Once certified, Obi will continue educating childbearing women on subjects like postpartum depression, mood disorders, anxiety, breastfeeding, overall mental well-being, and more.
“Pregnancy is a stressful event for mothers that can either worsen existing mental illnesses or cause new mental health disorders,” Obi said. “As a PMHNP, I can help these patients overcome their daily obstacles, which I find rewarding.”
“Nearly 25% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are related to mental health issues such as suicide or overdose related to addiction. It is critical that health care providers are educated to treat these issues. Data also overwhelmingly demonstrate that culturally congruent care improves patient outcomes by emphasizing interactions between patients and practitioners based on empathy and respect,” FNU President Dr. Susan Stone said. “That is the type of care that nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives are trained to provide. It is vital that we increase the number and diversity of the nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery workforce to combat the tragically high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity in our country. I congratulate Ify for seeking further education to treat these conditions.”
“FNU’s dedication to amplifying underrepresented voices is truly commendable,” Obi said. “Together, we can make a difference and create a more equitable healthcare system.”
Thank you Ify for your dedication to better mental health for underserved mothers. Learn more about Ify in FNU’s upcoming CNEP documentary, in which her story is featured. Here’s a preview:
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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).