Dolly Browder, a well-known midwife from Montana, has played an important role in the midwifery movement, both in Montana and in the nation. In her talk, Dolly will describe the evolution of her career as a self-employed midwife, how her career enabled her to pursue personal goals of social justice, remaking birth into a process controlled by and serving mothers and families. She will then address issues of racism in maternity care. Dolly has made her living since the early 1980s as a self-employed midwife, holding birthing classes in her home and serving as midwife at almost 1,000 in-home births. Dolly last spoke at the College in 1994 when her daughter was a student here. 

In 1989, Dolly was instrumental in helping the Montana legislature write and implement the statute and regulations for licensed midwives. In 1991 she became the first licensed midwife in Montana and served as chair and vice-chair of the state licensing board for 14 years. She has trained many students of midwifery and helped establish the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM), a national professional organization for Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs). She served as the Secretary of NACPM from 2002-2012. She is currently working to promote the work and practice of Certified Professional Midwives through NACPM and supporting the passage of HB1054 to recognize Certified Professional Midwives on the federal level with the Midwives and Mothers in Action Campaign (MAMA) Campaign. 

Dolly Browder’s talk is sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship in Liberal Education at Beloit (CELEB), the Coleman Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, the Department of Economics, the Department of Psychology, the Health Professions Advisory Committee, the Health & Society Program and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program.

This event is free and open to the campus and community.