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In This Issue:
Miriam Mahler checks in on the proud new parents of a baby girl during rounds on CWN-5, the Center for Labor and Birth.
For three years in the Peace Corps, Miriam Mahler, CNM, MPH, worked as a registered nurse in a community health center in Bogota, Colombia, delivering babies, learning Spanish and beginning a career that has enabled her to help thousands of women and their families.
“That experience solidified midwifery for me,” said Mahler, now the program director for Midwifery at BWH, who enrolled in a midwifery program at Georgetown University following the Peace Corps. “I’d always known it, but the experience also really brought home for me that I needed and wanted to work with underserved populations.”
Since joining BWH as a staff midwife in 1989, she has become a powerful advocate and care giver for underserved patients at 10 community health centers and a dedicated leader and colleague for the hospital’s 20 nurse midwives. Next month, Mahler will be honored for her leadership, dedication and compassion with the 2009 Thomson Compassionate Leadership Award at BWH.
“Miriam is one of the kindest and most talented clinicians I have had the opportunity to work with,” said Paula McNichols, executive director of Brookside Community Health Center, one of the health centers the BWH midwifery group works with. “Despite the complexity of the life situations of our patients, Miriam continuously offers sound and supportive comfort and counsel, engaging patients in their treatment plans and outcomes.”
Mahler recently took on an initiative to translate patient consent forms into Vietnamese, Haitian Creole and other languages reflective of the patients at the health centers. The diversity of her patients enthralls Mahler, who loves learning about the different cultures and personal stories that shape each of her patient’s lives.
Understanding those stories and cultures helps Mahler and her midwife colleagues form close relationships with the mothers who depend on their care throughout pregnancy, during delivery and for six weeks post-partum. “Patients often hug me at the beginning or end of a visit,” Mahler said. “There’s a true caring between us.”
Patrick Egan, medical director of Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, said that the number of patients at the health center who select BWH for their prenatal care has more than doubled since Mahler began working there three years ago. “I think this is a reflection of both the excellent care she provides and the lovely way she interacts with her patients,” Egan said. “She is warm and supportive of young women nervous in their first pregnancy, as well as women who have a wide variety of questions and concerns that arise despite their previous experiences.”
Since she became program director of the Midwifery Program at BWH in 2003, Mahler still sees patients at Dorchester House weekly and fills in at other health centers when needed, in addition to expanded administrative and leadership responsibilities. She serves as the voice of midwives on hospital committees, nurtures the relationships with community health centers and participates in BWH’s ongoing work to decrease the incidence of low birth weight infants in the community.
“Miriam is a known leader who is courageous and always willing to challenge injustice, commit to excellence in patient care for herself and other team members and role-model professional behavior,” said Angelleen Peters-Lewis, PhD, RN, director of Women’s and Newborn’s Nursing and Clinical Services.
14 Comments
Congratulatins on a well deserved award. I was very touched when I read the story. Keep up the great work!
Thank you Miriam for sharing your passion with us. I'm honored to have known over the years.
Miriam, Thank you for being such a wonderful resource and role model. Congratulaciones y buena suerte.
It has been an honor to be your nursing colleague these past 19 years. Your leadership skills and professionalism are exemplary.I look forward to our continued work together. Congratulations! Joan
Miriam, a well deserved recognition. Congratulations and look forward to working with you for many years to come. Kathy
Your story is very inspiring. Congratulations!! It must be wonderful to serve the community in one of the best ways possible: helping new parents. You could not be in a better position to do some good. Thank you for your service.
Amazing accomplishments, and recognition well-deserved. Congratulation, Miriam!
Miriam, I cannot think of a better candidate for this award. It has been a pleasure and honor to work with you. Laurie
Congratulations Miriam... Thank you for your daily care and concern of Boston's most vunerable young women and families. You are a wonderful role model for us all. Maureen
I am thankful to work with you. You are a passionate, mission-driven clinician with a fantastic sense of humor: it's the best possible combination! We are amazingly lucky to have you here working on behalf of our patients, and leading our midwife group.
Congratulations!!! You were a wonderful person when I met you 8 years ago for delivery of my son... You surely deserve all of the recognition that your recieve.
Congratulations Miriam on a well deserved honor!
Congratulations Miriam you deserved this honor.
This recognition couldn't be for a better person! Your Love and committment to your patients and the community is outstanding! Congrats to you!
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