Congratulations to Felina Ortiz, DNP, CNM, RN who was appointed as the new committee chair for the Midwives of Color Committee effective October 1, 2019. MOCC recruits, retains, and supports the advancement of persons of diverse ethnic/cultural backgrounds to the profession of midwifery.
Ortiz has been a nurse-midwife since 2003 and became an active member of ACNM immediately upon graduation. The majority of her work within the College has been within MOCC and its mentoring program. However, she has also sat on the Nominating Committee and is currently on the Program Committee as the Track Leader for the Racism and Health Disparities track.
Ortiz has been a solid contributor for the New Mexico ACNM affiliate. In 2010, she worked to create a New Mexico Midwives of Color (NM MOC) subcommittee of our ACNM affiliate. This subcommittee has received great support by the University of New Mexico (UNM), College of Nursing and many others throughout the state. UNM has created an endowment specifically to fund the NM MOC. Through these funds, they have been able to offer scholarships; educational sessions regarding Maternal Child Health Disparities that affect New Mexican communities of color; and other networking and recruiting events.
Ortiz joined the University of New Mexico (UNM) College of Nursing faculty in 2011 after practicing as a certified nurse-midwife in clinical practice within underserved communities for eight years. She led the development and implementation of prenatal group care facilitated by midwives and community health workers (CHWs) in a faculty practice based in a rural community health center. Currently, as an Assistant Professor at UNM, she teaches Women’s Health, Intrapartum, and Newborn courses for the nurse-midwifery program. And as a clinician, she has always worked for facilities that serve all families, despite their insurance, citizen status or ability to pay. The majority of the women and families that she presently serves are Hispanic and often speak only Spanish.
Ortiz received her ADN from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah in 1998 and her BSN from the University of Utah in 2001. In 2003, she received her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery from the University of New Mexico and her DNP from New Mexico State University in 2014.
As Chairperson of MOCC, Ortiz will also assume the ACNM Board of Directors position as Midwife of Color Ex Officio. Ortiz replaces Patricia Loftman, CNM, LM, MS, FACNM who served as the Chair of MOCC for the past three years and as a member of MOCC for the past nine years. She also served in the role of ACNM Board of Directors Midwife of Color Ex-Officio for the past two years. We want to thank Patricia Loftman for her dedication, commitment, and service.