In memoriam A tribute to Therese Dondero

IN MEMORIAM A Tribute to Therese Dondero, CNM Midwifery has lost one of its great pioneers. In her life and in her work, Therese Dondero carried on the innovative spirit of midwifery’s founders; she forged a new role for midwives within the municipal hospital system, indeed, within the health care system. Those of us who knew Therese have lost a friend, a mentor, a role model. We have lost someone who could clarify our thoughts for us, give direction to our actions, and support us when we needed support. For myself, I have lost the person most responsible for what I am as a midwife. Within the depth of our loss, we might find comfort in looking at the fulfillment Therese found in life. She was blessed in a way few are. She was blessed with a vision, and with the ability to make that vision a reality. This ability came from Therese’s foresight, her steadfast dedication, and her tireless energy. Mostly, it came from her courage. The courage of conviction, enabling her to pursue an ideal despite obstacles, criticism, even ridicule. The courage to persist when others would have given up. It is with this same courage that she faced her final struggle, her illness. It too, she fought with dignity and inner strength, believing that she could overcome, yet never bitter when she knew she could not. Therese has left behind an indelible legacy, a legacy we as midwives have a commitment to continue. This legacy exists in her respect for people from all backgrounds, her refusal to dehumanize anyone because of ethnic, cultural, or income group. It exists most tangibly in the midwifery service at North Central Bronx Hospital (NCB), a service which she conceived, birthed, and nurtured. When Therese was asked to undertake the initiation of this service, she had a successful, full-scope private midwifery practice. This was, in fact, one of the first private midwifery practices in New York. Nevertheless, she responded to the need to establish this new midwifery service to provide care to indigent families in New York City. Organized according to a primary care model rarely seen in public institutions, NCB is the only hospital in the United States where midwifery care is the norm for all women. It is the model promulgated by childbirth activists for obstetrical care for all women, a model towards which most midwives can only strive, but which the midwives at NCB have realized. This service has proven that expensive “birth rooms” are not a prerequisite to the provision of alternative care and that such care need not be limited to women classified as low risk. Therese Dondero is directly responsible for these achievements, Through the eight years of its existence, NCB has grown in volume and conception. Under Therese’s direction, students, midwives, and other obstetrical practitioners from all over the world have come to learn the NCB approach to care. Thus, Therese’s philosophy of providing safe, individualized, and humane maternity care to all women has and will continue to expand and influence others. Therese’s contribution to midwifery extended to work within the American College of Nurse-Midwives and to writing for several publications now in progress. She has spoken to numerous and varied audiences, She is an example to emulate as a superb clinician, educator, innovator, administrator, and loving human being. What Therese has given to each of us individually is perhaps less evident, but equally valuable. As another midwife expressed, Therese was able to look at situations, personal as well as professional, within a uniquely logical framework and make sense out of confusion. This special quality has been called her gift, her inspiration, her genius. This we can never replace, but we can always remember. Ronnie

Lichtman,

CNM

Ronnie Lichtman,

CNM, was a student of Therese Dondero and former staff nurse-midwife at North Central Bronx Hospital.

Journal of Nurse-Midwifery Copyright

?? Vol.

:r 1986 by the American College

31, No. 5, September/October

of Nurse-Midwives

1986

211 0091.2182/86/$03.50