- Email: [email protected]
Mary Ann Shah and The Journal of Nurse-Midwifery: A Historic Milestone∗
MILESTONES IN MIDWIFERY
MARY ANN SHAH AND THE JOURNAL OF NURSE-MIDWIFERY: A HISTORIC MILESTONE* Helen Varney Burst,
CNM, MSN, DHL (Hon.), FACNM
Midwifery was almost extinguished during the first decades of the 20th century. Among the major factors mitigating against the midwives at that time was that they had no means of communication with each other: no national organization and no national publication. When the American College of Nurse-Midwifery was founded in 1955, not only was a national professional organization established but also a national professional journal. By 1975, the official organ of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), the Journal of Nurse-Midwifery (JNM), had undergone three name changes, nine editors, and several different ways of getting printed and distributed. The JNM lacked stability, advertising revenues, and guaranteed meeting of printing and mailing deadlines. The foremost significant milestone in the life of the JNM took place on April 15, 1975, when ACNM President Dorothea Lang appointed Mary Ann Shah, CNM, MS, to fill the vacant position of editor. During the ensuing 25 years that Mary Ann Shah was Editor-inChief, there were a number of further significant milestones for the Journal. These include bringing publishing and financial stability to the JNM, getting JNM accepted in Index Medicus, establishing peer review mechanisms to be a refereed journal, and starting JNM ACNM Continuing Education Unit (CEU)-approved home study programs. During her tenure, JNM grew from a 51⁄2⬙ ⫻ 81⁄2⬙ quarterly to an 81⁄2⬙ ⫻ 11⬙ bimonthly, had a 150% growth in editorial pages, and a 582% increase in circulation. In the spring of 1976, Mary Ann Shah made the first application for inclusion of the JNM in Index Medicus (IM). Unsuccessful, she began what subsequently became a 9-year odyssey of writing reapplication, a challenge of the mandatory 2-year wait for reapplications, a personal appeal to the Editor of IM, and filing rejection letters. In the March/April 1985 issue of JNM, Mary Ann vented her frustration and outrage in an editorial comparing the “powers-that-be” at IM to the Red Queen, an Address correspondence to Helen Varney Burst, CNM, MSN, DHL (Hon), 25 Beaver Hill Lane, New Haven, CT 06511. * Adapted from Burst HV. Mary Ann Shah and the Journal of Nurse Midwifery: a historic retrospective. Printed in a tribute issue of the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health. Prepared by JMWH editorial board and presented to Mary Ann Shah at a retirement gala in New York City on September 10, 2000. FACNM,
“imperiously arbitrary despot” in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. JNM was finally accepted in Index Medicus in July 1986. During a subsequent telephone conversation, the new editor of IM informed Mary Ann that her “editorial was on the desk of every member of the Index Medicus Board of Review and was the impetus for the development of selection criteria.” Another milestone occurred in August 1978 when the ACNM Board of Directors unanimously approved a proposal solicited by Mary Ann from Elsevier NorthHolland, Inc. With a mainstream scientific publisher in place, efforts began in earnest to improve the financial future of the Journal. A memo dated October 7, 1978, from ACNM President Helen Varney Burst to Mary Brucker (Chair of the Continuing Education Committee) and Mary Ann Shah (DOP Chair and JNM Editor) planted the seeds for the initiation of ACNM-sponsored home study opportunities: “Note the CME quizzes in the PA’s Journal. AJN [American Journal of Nursing] is also starting continuing education. Seems a nifty idea! Do you think this is something ACNM continuing education and
Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health • Vol. 46, No. 2, March/April 2001 © 2001 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives Issued by Elsevier Science Inc.
109 1526-9523/01/$20.00 • PII S1526-9523(01)00100-3
the Journal might collaborate on?” Mary Ann agreed that it was an idea worth exploring and in 1989, the September/October issue featured the Journal’s first Home Study Program (HSP), which focused on “AIDS” and offered participants ACNM-approved CEUs. Since that time, the Journal has published 17 additional HSPs under her direction, which offered CEUs to participants while generating substantial revenues for the College. Editorial Board members who served under Mary Ann’s leadership have offered descriptions of personal characteristics they believe contributed to her ability to achieve such success and effectiveness with the Journal. These include the rare combination of a well-used red pen and a diplomatic manner, unlimited dedication, conviction, and foresight evidenced in editorials that addressed current and future professional issues, sensitivity, patience, and clarity of thought. These same characteristics were critical in her other professional contributions, which include writing the initial grant proposal that funded the establishment of the NurseMidwifery Education Program at Georgetown University at a time when midwifery was virtually non-existent in the District of Columbia (1971–1972), pioneering a Human Sexuality program for physically and mentally challenged 5–21-year-old students for the New York City Board of Education (1984 –1995), founding the ACNM fellowship (1991–1993), and applying her creative energy in the coordination and codevelopment of the first ACNM-accredited direct-entry midwifery edu-
110
cation program (1995–1996). Her work was recognized by the ACNM in 1997 when she was awarded its highest honor, the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award. She has also been recently honored by Fordham University with an Alumni Achievement Award (1999) and by the National Perinatal Association with an Award for Individual Contribution to Maternal and Child Health (2000). Most importantly, Mary Ann Shah has preserved the voice of our profession. The practice and profession of midwifery is in a far more secure place at the turn of this century. With the Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, now the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, midwives have a means through which to communicate, make themselves and their practices known to each other, educate, and use as a means of organization. To have this mechanism of communication is one of the basic foundations for the growth, recognition, visibility, and survival of midwifery. To ensure this basic foundation is the contribution Mary Ann Shah gave during her years as Editor-in-Chief. As a result of her commitment, dedication, and endless hours of hard work, the ACNM has a recognized and respected voice for communicating the professional work of midwifery in clinical practice, research, policy, and education. The ACNM Board of Directors recognized Mary Ann Shah’s preservation and development of the Journal of Nurse-Midwifery in perpetuity by naming her Editor Emeritus upon her retirement as Editor-in-Chief.
Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health • Vol. 46, No. 2, March/April 2001
MARY ANN SHAH AND THE JOURNAL OF NURSE-MIDWIFERY: A HISTORIC MILESTONE* Helen Varney Burst,
CNM, MSN, DHL (Hon.), FACNM
Midwifery was almost extinguished during the first decades of the 20th century. Among the major factors mitigating against the midwives at that time was that they had no means of communication with each other: no national organization and no national publication. When the American College of Nurse-Midwifery was founded in 1955, not only was a national professional organization established but also a national professional journal. By 1975, the official organ of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), the Journal of Nurse-Midwifery (JNM), had undergone three name changes, nine editors, and several different ways of getting printed and distributed. The JNM lacked stability, advertising revenues, and guaranteed meeting of printing and mailing deadlines. The foremost significant milestone in the life of the JNM took place on April 15, 1975, when ACNM President Dorothea Lang appointed Mary Ann Shah, CNM, MS, to fill the vacant position of editor. During the ensuing 25 years that Mary Ann Shah was Editor-inChief, there were a number of further significant milestones for the Journal. These include bringing publishing and financial stability to the JNM, getting JNM accepted in Index Medicus, establishing peer review mechanisms to be a refereed journal, and starting JNM ACNM Continuing Education Unit (CEU)-approved home study programs. During her tenure, JNM grew from a 51⁄2⬙ ⫻ 81⁄2⬙ quarterly to an 81⁄2⬙ ⫻ 11⬙ bimonthly, had a 150% growth in editorial pages, and a 582% increase in circulation. In the spring of 1976, Mary Ann Shah made the first application for inclusion of the JNM in Index Medicus (IM). Unsuccessful, she began what subsequently became a 9-year odyssey of writing reapplication, a challenge of the mandatory 2-year wait for reapplications, a personal appeal to the Editor of IM, and filing rejection letters. In the March/April 1985 issue of JNM, Mary Ann vented her frustration and outrage in an editorial comparing the “powers-that-be” at IM to the Red Queen, an Address correspondence to Helen Varney Burst, CNM, MSN, DHL (Hon), 25 Beaver Hill Lane, New Haven, CT 06511. * Adapted from Burst HV. Mary Ann Shah and the Journal of Nurse Midwifery: a historic retrospective. Printed in a tribute issue of the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health. Prepared by JMWH editorial board and presented to Mary Ann Shah at a retirement gala in New York City on September 10, 2000. FACNM,
“imperiously arbitrary despot” in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. JNM was finally accepted in Index Medicus in July 1986. During a subsequent telephone conversation, the new editor of IM informed Mary Ann that her “editorial was on the desk of every member of the Index Medicus Board of Review and was the impetus for the development of selection criteria.” Another milestone occurred in August 1978 when the ACNM Board of Directors unanimously approved a proposal solicited by Mary Ann from Elsevier NorthHolland, Inc. With a mainstream scientific publisher in place, efforts began in earnest to improve the financial future of the Journal. A memo dated October 7, 1978, from ACNM President Helen Varney Burst to Mary Brucker (Chair of the Continuing Education Committee) and Mary Ann Shah (DOP Chair and JNM Editor) planted the seeds for the initiation of ACNM-sponsored home study opportunities: “Note the CME quizzes in the PA’s Journal. AJN [American Journal of Nursing] is also starting continuing education. Seems a nifty idea! Do you think this is something ACNM continuing education and
Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health • Vol. 46, No. 2, March/April 2001 © 2001 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives Issued by Elsevier Science Inc.
109 1526-9523/01/$20.00 • PII S1526-9523(01)00100-3
the Journal might collaborate on?” Mary Ann agreed that it was an idea worth exploring and in 1989, the September/October issue featured the Journal’s first Home Study Program (HSP), which focused on “AIDS” and offered participants ACNM-approved CEUs. Since that time, the Journal has published 17 additional HSPs under her direction, which offered CEUs to participants while generating substantial revenues for the College. Editorial Board members who served under Mary Ann’s leadership have offered descriptions of personal characteristics they believe contributed to her ability to achieve such success and effectiveness with the Journal. These include the rare combination of a well-used red pen and a diplomatic manner, unlimited dedication, conviction, and foresight evidenced in editorials that addressed current and future professional issues, sensitivity, patience, and clarity of thought. These same characteristics were critical in her other professional contributions, which include writing the initial grant proposal that funded the establishment of the NurseMidwifery Education Program at Georgetown University at a time when midwifery was virtually non-existent in the District of Columbia (1971–1972), pioneering a Human Sexuality program for physically and mentally challenged 5–21-year-old students for the New York City Board of Education (1984 –1995), founding the ACNM fellowship (1991–1993), and applying her creative energy in the coordination and codevelopment of the first ACNM-accredited direct-entry midwifery edu-
110
cation program (1995–1996). Her work was recognized by the ACNM in 1997 when she was awarded its highest honor, the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award. She has also been recently honored by Fordham University with an Alumni Achievement Award (1999) and by the National Perinatal Association with an Award for Individual Contribution to Maternal and Child Health (2000). Most importantly, Mary Ann Shah has preserved the voice of our profession. The practice and profession of midwifery is in a far more secure place at the turn of this century. With the Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, now the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, midwives have a means through which to communicate, make themselves and their practices known to each other, educate, and use as a means of organization. To have this mechanism of communication is one of the basic foundations for the growth, recognition, visibility, and survival of midwifery. To ensure this basic foundation is the contribution Mary Ann Shah gave during her years as Editor-in-Chief. As a result of her commitment, dedication, and endless hours of hard work, the ACNM has a recognized and respected voice for communicating the professional work of midwifery in clinical practice, research, policy, and education. The ACNM Board of Directors recognized Mary Ann Shah’s preservation and development of the Journal of Nurse-Midwifery in perpetuity by naming her Editor Emeritus upon her retirement as Editor-in-Chief.
Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health • Vol. 46, No. 2, March/April 2001