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.
Antionette (Ann) Milligan-Barnes, RN, is a public health nurse and community advocate born in Durham, North Carolina. After completing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from North Carolina Central University, she served in the United State Air Force Nurse Corps for 10 years. While working in Durham, Milligan-Barnes, a Black woman, worked at the segregated Watts Hospital, treating white patients, and was present during the establishment of the integrated Durham Regional Hospital in 1976. After returning to Durham, she worked at the Durham County Department of Public Health for over 20 years as a Public Health Nurse and Charge Nurse where she played a pivotal role in the Centering Pregnancy Program at the Department of Public Health where she later moved into the role of Centering Coordinator. Milligan Barnes retired in 2016. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on October 5, 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, Milligan-Barnes discusses her early professional years at Watts Hospital, her role as a Labor and Delivery nurse at Durham/Duke Regional Hospital, her time serving in the United States Air Force Nurse Corps, as well as her experiences in the Durham County Department of Public Health, where she worked as a public health nurse and the Coordinator for the Centering Program associated with the Duke Midwifery Services. The themes of this interview include community healthcare, health disparities, and pregnancy and postpartum care.
Amy G. MacDonald, CNM, MSN, founded the Duke Midwifery Service in 1999. As the first nurse midwife at Duke to provide full-scope care for obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) patients, she grew the Service in the following years to include ten midwifery providers. In this role and throughout her career at Duke, MacDonald provided care for patients, while also mentoring and providing didactic content for Duke medical, nurse practitioner, (NP) and physician assistant (PA) students, as well as residents from Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, and OB/GYN in Duke's large teaching hospital setting. MacDonald was the Director of Duke Midwifery Service until 2013, and remained at Duke as a Certified Nurse Midwife until 2021 while also serving in roles including Medical Instructor for Duke School of Medicine and Director of Duke Centering Practice Programs. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on September 27, 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, MacDonald discusses the Duke Midwifery Service, hospital-based midwifery practices and nurse-led education, and then Centering Pregnancy program facilitated by Duke midwives. The themes of this interview include midwifery, pregnancy, childbirth, postnatal education, and medical training.
Kim Quang Dau, RN, MS, CNM, is a Clinical Professor of Midwifery in the School of Nursing at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF), a Certified Nurse-Midwife at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the Director of UCSF's Nurse-Midwifery/WHNP Program, and a co-lead for UCSF's Midwifery Mentoring and Belonging Program. From 2007 to 2010, Dau was a Staff Midwife with Duke Midwifery Service, and the Coordinator for the Centering Pregnancy program facilitated in collaboration with Durham County Department of Public Health in locations including Lincoln Community Health Center and El Centro Hispano. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on October 19, 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, Dau discusses her path to midwifery, patient-centered care in a community setting, and the experience of change in healthcare systems. The themes of this interview include midwifery, community healthcare, and medical training.