Frontier Nursing University (FNU) has been educating students in the field of nurse-midwifery for nearly 80 years. FNU president and certified nurse-midwife Susan Stone will have the opportunity to share FNU’s vision and present on the topic of nurse-midwifery this May as a keynote speaker for the 2018 Virtual International Day of the Midwife.
In its tenth year, the Virtual International Day of the Midwife (VIDM) is an annual online conference which celebrates the International Day of the Midwife held each year on May 5th. The free virtual event, sponsored in part by FNU, uses online conferencing software to bring together anyone who has an interest in childbirth matters – from midwives to professionals, and students to consumers.
This year, the VIDM conference begins on May 4, 2018 at 5 p.m. EDT and features a 24-hour program covering a wide range of subjects with speakers from around the globe. Dr. Susan Stone is featured as one of five keynote speakers, joining esteemed midwifery and nursing professionals from across international borders in the Netherlands, Ghana, Australia and New Zealand.
Dr. Stone’s presentation covers the importance of building a diverse midwifery workforce. Using her three decades’ worth of experience in the field, Dr. Stone will talk about how a diverse workforce in the midwifery field in the United States will improve maternity care outcomes. Her session can be seen for free at 8:00am EDT in Room 2 of the virtual Big Blue Button conference space.
This year’s other VIDM speakers, representing 15 countries, 6 continents, and 3 languages, cover a wide range of subjects. Just a few of the topics are:
- Neonatal safety with water birth: Results from our meta-analysis
- Designing, developing and testing ‘Home But Not Alone’ mobile phone app for new parents in the early postpartum period
- Birth outcomes of women with BMIs >30 enrolled for care at freestanding birth centers
- Postnatal Pilates: Findings from a pilot study
This year, two other FNU faculty and staff members are actively participating in the VIDM as well. Jane Houston, DNP, CNM, Clinical Program Director at FNU is serving as a member of this year’s VIDM committee and member of the VIDM marketing staff. Stephanie Boyd, FNU’s Multimedia Communications Specialist, will facilitate a speaking session on Saturday from 9-10:00am EDT.
VIDM is a fantastic teaching opportunity for our FNU faculty and staff, but also a great learning opportunity to hear from some of the brightest minds in midwifery. Students, faculty and the public can tune in for free to the 2018 VIDM on www.vidm.org.