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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Concerned nursing students and alumni petition to keep midwifery program

A decision by the UF College of Nursing to suspend admissions to the nurse midwifery program has upset students and alumni enough to inspire them to start a petition that’s gained more than 1,700 supporters

In a letter sent to alumni of the college, Dean Anna McDaniel announced the college’s intentions to stop accepting applications for three of the tracks in the college’s doctor of nursing practice degree program.

The adult-gerontology primary care, neonatal and nurse midwifery programs did not accept applications for the Spring 2015 semester. The decision will not affect current students, who will be able to finish out their degrees.

In an email, McDaniel said the college periodically does an assessment of its programs to make sure they are meeting the needs and interests of current and future students.

“The decision to defer enrollment in these tracks was carefully considered based on student enrollment, progression and completion rates, availability of clinical care experiences, faculty resources and overall funding,” McDaniel said.

There haven’t been any decisions made regarding the future of any of the tracks, McDaniel said.

“We are continuing to gather information so we can evaluate how to best make these specialty tracks sustainable, if possible,” she said.

The suspension has two midwives worried about the future of their industry.

Stephanie Shivers, 30, a current student of the midwifery program, started a petition last Sunday with fellow midwife Padi Sutherland.

“I have high hopes that it will be helpful, but I know it won’t be the only thing that achieves our goal,” Shivers said.

As of press time, the petition had 1,762 supporters. Neither of the other tracks has petitions as far as Shivers, Sutherland and McDaniel know.

Midwives are an alternate health care option for women and can provide gynecological, pre- and post-natal care and everyday care like birth control. UF’s program is the only certified nurse midwifery program in the state, Shivers said, which is why it’s important the program continues to take in students.

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“Moms are not going to have the various options that we provide and the type of support that midwives provide,” Shivers said. “If there are no nurse midwifery programs, then we aren’t supporting Florida residents.”

Sutherland, who works at Gainesville OBGYN and met Shivers through the local chapter of American College of Nurse-Midwives, said midwives are an important resource.

“We provide low-intervention, high-quality, low-cost care often to underserved populations,” Sutherland said. “You’re not going to find that many doctors who would do that kind of travel to rural communities because it’s not very profitable.“

UF Health is currently undergoing preparations to open a new midwife-led birth center in Jacksonville, however.

“The opening of the UF Health Birth Center in Jacksonville reflects our support for the services of nurse midwives,” McDaniel said. “The center will function independently of the UF College of Nursing and its academic programs.”

[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/30/2015 under the headline “Nursing students petition to keep midwife program"]

 

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