We are saddened to share the recent passing of Judith Rooks, CNM, MPH, MS, past-president of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. Judith was an epidemiologist with many years’ service at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, principal investigator of several major studies, consultant to family planning and midwifery programs in developing countries, and long-standing public health professional once employed in the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General and author of more than 100 published papers.
Judith had a very storied career in public health as well as midwifery. She earned her MPH in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (now the Bloomberg School of Public Health). She was recognized by the American Public Health Association in 1993 with the Martha May Elliot Award, APHA’s highest honor in the field of Maternal and Child Health. Her 1997 book, Midwifery & Childbirth in America, remains relevant today and has become a classic medical history resource. She was also a key force in getting nitrous oxide re-introduced for use in childbirth.