When Jhpiego’s new chief nursing and midwifery officer reminisces about her earliest influences, a kindly, senior midwife comes to mind. Her name was Iris, says Dr. Pandora Hardtman. She wore a blue uniform. Navy blue, Hardtman clarifies. Dark and stark. Not like the almost iridescent iris shade of dress (and matching lipstick) that Hardtman happens to be wearing today during a Zoom meet-and-greet with Jhpiego colleagues. And not like the shimmering turquoise of the sea that surrounds the pink sand island of Bermuda where midwives like Iris were a mainstay in bustling health department offices, full of people seeking
Miswaki Village, Tanzania—When her water broke, Helena Paschal was alone at home. Although her due date was several weeks away, she knew the labor was real. “I felt a sharp pain around my waist. I sensed the baby was coming,” she recalled. There was no time to call a neighbor or do anything but just
Khordha district, Odisha, India In the five villages served by health care provider Subhasini Dei, Thursdays are reserved for women and their families with heart conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). An auxiliary nurse-midwife for 30 years, Dei has noted a growing incidence of these conditions among her clients, a worrisome
