What does midwifery mean to you? What would you like to be celebrated in the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife?
Midwifery is a way. I have learned how to be present, how to hold space and time, and how to show up for others, and these are skills that apply in the labor and birth room and in the outside world. In 2020, I would like to see unity as a profession. Women need us and our service, and it is easier to provide that when we are aligned together. I do believe we are stronger together.
Tell us about your background: Which midwifery education program did you attend or are currently attending? What are your areas of specialty? Who mentored you along the way in your career? What inspired you to become a midwife?
I attended UIC at Chicago’s Midwifery Program and graduated in 2008. I have had so many mentors! Pam Hetrick, Celina Cunanan, Erin Farah, Shirley Moore, Erin Callahan, Helen Varney Burst, Ellen Margles and more–these midwives have made me who I am today! I was inspired to become a midwife by Deb Hanson who let me shadow her at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, when I was a high school senior!
Connect with Ann
FB/IG/Twitter/Pinterest/LinkedIn: @annkonkolycnm
Website: annkonkolycnm.com