Ep 102 Erin George on navigating birth settings and maternal health in Haiti and the US

Ep 102  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Erin George on navigating birth settings and maternal health in Haiti and the US

@PhDMidwives #research #midwifery  #education #birthsetting @uaznursing @acnmmidwives 

research link - t.ly/bt1_-
mumhlab.com 

What happens when a college student's chance conversation with a midwife changes the trajectory of her entire career? Erin George's journey from aspiring emergency medicine doctor to certified nurse midwife, researcher, and advocate reveals the serendipitous and sometimes meandering paths that lead us to our true calling.

In this deeply personal conversation, Erin shares how her internship at Partners in Health and a fortuitous desk placement outside a midwife's office sparked her interest in a profession she knew little about. Her story weaves through nursing school, global health work in Haiti, hospital practice, and eventually to a freestanding birth center where her passion for expanding birth setting options took root. When that birth center closed during COVID-19, Erin channeled her frustration into PhD research examining how pregnant people choose birth settings and what barriers they face.

Most poignantly, Erin reveals how pursuing her doctoral studies became an unexpected anchor during her husband's cancer diagnosis and treatment. With raw honesty, she describes completing her dissertation while raising two young children during a pandemic and facing profound personal challenges. Rather than derailing her research, these circumstances focused her work on what truly matters in maternal care.

Now as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona, Erin is tackling critical research questions about birth setting transfers and postpartum hemorrhage prediction. Her work examines how we might better identify who's at risk for hemorrhage through genetic testing, placental biomarkers, and comprehensive health histories. The conversation highlights how midwifery research can bridge clinical practice with systems-level change to improve maternal outcomes.

Curious about the future of maternal health research or considering a career in midwifery? This episode offers invaluable insights into both the challenges and profound rewards of working to improve birth experiences and outcomes. Share your thoughts with us about how choice in birth settings has impacted your practice or personal experience.

Chapters

• 0:53 Introduction to Erin George
• 2:01 Pathway to Midwifery
• 6:40 Midwifery Education and Settings
• 16:48 Birth Center Work Experience
• 23:45 PhD Journey During Personal Crisis
• 31:08 Research on Birth Setting Choices
• 39:23 Current Research on Birth Transfers
• 58:42 Future Research on Postpartum Hemorrhage