Helen M. Mikul Oral History Interview, 2022

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Summary

Creator:
Mikul, Helen M.
Abstract:
Helen M. Mikul, CNM, worked as a midwife for the Duke Midwifery Service from 2003 to 2008. She credits this job as a critical step towards her current role as lead provider at the Siler City Community Health Center, which she calls the job she was "meant to do". As a midwife with Duke Midwifery Service, Mikul provided midwifery care to patients, worked in labor and delivery triage, attended births in Duke's labor and delivery unit, participated as a facilitator for the Centering Pregnancy prenatal care groups at Lincoln Community Health Center, and provided training and support to Duke students, residents, and fellows. Throughout her career, she has been particularly passionate about providing family planning and contraceptive care to clients. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on October 17, 2022 by Josephine McRobbie as part of the Duke Midwifery Service and Durham Maternal Health Oral History Project, which was funded by The Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund. In the interview, Mikul discusses her role as a midwife with Duke Midwifery Service, her dedication to working with Spanish-speaking clients, and the uniqueness of midwifery as a healthcare profession. The themes of this interview include medical training, midwifery, and family planning.
Extent:
1 Interview (1 transcript) and 640 MB
Language:
English
Collection ID:
OH.MIKULH

Background

Scope and content:

Includes 1 oral history interview with Helen M. Mikul conducted on October 17, 2022 by Josephine McRobbie as part of the Duke Midwifery Service and Durham Maternal Health Oral History Project, which was funded by The Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund.

In the October 17, 2022 interview, Mikul discusses her role as a midwife with Duke Midwifery Service, her dedication to working with Spanish-speaking clients, and the uniqueness of midwifery as a healthcare profession. The themes of this interview include medical training, midwifery, and family planning.

Biographical / historical:

Helen Mikul, CNM, was raised partially in Mexico, where she became fluent in Spanish, and she focuses her work as a midwife on providing care to Spanish-speaking communities in North Carolina. Her interest in midwifery stems from her experiences as a recipient of both midwifery and obstetrics care while giving birth to her three children. "I was heard when I was a midwifery client," she explains. A graduate of a bible college in Dallas, Texas, Mikul went back to school at the age of 40 after her youngest child entered kindergarten. She terms herself a "late bloomer" professionally. Mikul received her Associate's Degree from Vance-Granville Community College, and her Master of Science in Nursing and Certified Nursing Midwife degrees from Eastern Carolina University (ECU). Upon her graduation from ECU in 1998, she spent five years working as a midwife at Women's Birth and Wellness Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Mikul worked as a midwife for the Duke Midwifery Service from 2003 to 2008. She credits this job as a critical step towards her role as lead provider at the Siler City Community Health Center, which she calls the job she was "meant to do". As a midwife with Duke Midwifery Service, Mikul provided midwifery care to patients, worked in labor and delivery triage, attended births in Duke's labor and delivery unit, participated as a facilitator for the Centering Pregnancy prenatal care groups at Lincoln Community Health Center, and provided training and support to Duke students, residents, and fellows. Throughout her career, she has been particularly passionate about providing family planning and contraceptive care to clients.

Acquisition information:
Accession A2022.075 (transferred by Josephine McRobbie, November 2022)
Processing information:

Processed by Lucy Waldrop: November 2022

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Interview, October 17, 2022.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

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Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Helen M. Mikul Oral History Interview, Duke University Medical Center Archives.