GU Nurse-Midwifery Professor to Spend Fall Semester at Campion Hall in Oxford
December 19, 2018 – Cindy L. Farley, PhD, CNM, FACNM, an associate professor in the Nurse-Midwifery and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Programs at the School of Nursing & Health Studies, will be spending the fall 2019 semester in Oxford researching midwifery care in the United Kingdom.
Cindy L. Farley, PhD, CNM, FACNM (Photo courtesy John Davis Photography)
Georgetown’s Office of the President sponsors the Campion Hall Residency Program, which is coordinated by the Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement. “Participants are given the opportunity to live in residence at Campion Hall, the Jesuit hall of the University of Oxford, while conducting research in England,” according to the program.
“I have long admired the British system of midwifery care, and I look forward to this opportunity to engage with midwives in Oxford and the surrounding areas for their wisdom and experience,” Farley says. “I am excited to be part of the Campion Hall community.”
Lessons for Students
Farley says she hopes to “explore the structure and delivery of midwifery care” in a different health system and learn lessons that might be applied back home, particularly given that the United States is “the only developed country in which maternal mortality and morbidity rates are on the rise.”
“Growing the midwifery workforce and integrating midwifery care into the U.S. health care system, such as the U.K. has done with its midwifery-led units, may contribute to improvement in maternal health outcomes,” Farley notes.
The professor plans to incorporate what she learns about “other systems and models of maternity care” in her future courses with graduate students.
‘Exciting Opportunity’
Patricia Cloonan, PhD, RN, dean of the School of Nursing & Health Studies, congratulated Farley on being selected for Georgetown’s Oxford-based program.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Dr. Farley,” Cloonan says. “Her project focus exemplifies the way our faculty members embrace the synergy between practice, research, and teaching. This particular effort also highlights the way Georgetown’s Jesuit heritage and global presence add significant value to the work of our school.”