Kathy Higgins, MS, CNM, will be inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) in May of this year. Approximately 7% of the ACNM membership receive this honor. Fellowship in the American College of Nurse-Midwives (FACNM) is an honor bestowed upon those midwives who have demonstrated leadership within ACNM, clinical excellence, outstanding scholarship, professional achievement, and have merited special recognition both within and outside of the midwifery profession.
Kathy is an Associate Professor in the UNC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Director of the UNC Midwifery Division. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Valparaiso University, Indiana in 1978 and a Master’s of Science with a specialty in Midwifery from Georgetown University, Washington, DC in 1992 while serving in the US Air Force. Kathy has been in women’s healthcare over 40 years, 28 of those years as a certified nurse-midwife.
“I believe midwifery promotes and supports personalized care, treating each woman and family as a unique entity and not just another number,” she says. “Midwifery care entails assessing all aspects of a woman’s life, providing informative education as to her choices and supporting her decisions. I also see midwifery offering something very special to those women who give birth. Women often carry a picture on how their birth experience should be and midwifery provides a safe and supportive environment for them and their family to achieve their goals in this special time.”