xt70cf9j4t29 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70cf9j4t29/data/mets.xml The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. 1990 bulletins English The Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletins Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 65, No. 3, Winter 1990 text Frontier Nursing Service Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 65, No. 3, Winter 1990 1990 2014 true xt70cf9j4t29 section xt70cf9j4t29 uunsn,
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US ISSN 0016-2116 g
Table of Contents p
Midwifery Delivery Choice of OB/GYN — by Anne E. Stohrer M .D. 1 i
Frontier Nursing Service: Sixty Year Study {
of Nurse-Midwifery 1925-1985 - by Erica Goodman 4 ·4
Meet the Board of Governors — by Carl Severance 9
Memoirs of FNS Days - Phyllis J. Long and Beulah Olson F orness 12 F
Beyond the Mountains - by Deanna Severance 14
V Field Notes - by Cari Michaels 16
Courier News - by Cari Michaels 18
Courier Appeal - by Cari Michaels 19
In Memoriam - by Ruth Morgan 24 !
Memorial Gifts - by Ruth Morgan 25
Former Staff News - by Meriwether Wash 27
Form of Bequest 28 *
COVER: Mr. Andrew Stohrer Ellis recreates an FNS tradition.
Photo Credit: Photograph on page 9 courtesy of Mr. John Newell. `
FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE QUARTERLY 1;U1.u2T1N it
Us 1ssN 0016-2116 5
Published at thc end ofeach quarter by the Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. l
Wendnver, Kentucky 41775 l
Subscription Price $5.00 a Ycar V x
Edltor's Ofllce, Wendover, Kentucky 41775 {
VOLUME 65 NUMBER 3 WINTER 1990
Second-class postage paid at Wendover, Ky. 41775 and at additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Frontier Nursing Service, Wendover, Ky. 41775.
Copyright 1986, Frontier Nursing Service, Inc. {

QUARTERLY BULLETIN 1
Midwifery Delivery Choice of OB/GYN
-
Anne Stohrer MD. was employed by FNS in July 1989.
She is currently working on a part-time basis, every other
i weekend. In April 1990 Anne will become the primary
OB/GYN for FNS working at the Kate Ireland Women's
‘ HealthCare Center.
My decision to have a midwife-attended homebirth was based on strong
4 beliefs and a personal philosophy developed over the past twelve years.
I am an obstetrician-gynecolo gist who attended medical school
in Virginia and did residency training at a tertiary care center in the
1 midwest. I encountered no midwives during my training but as a result
ofthe technological/depersonalized atmosphere to whichl was exposed,
‘ I began early on to explore altematives to traditional delivery. For
t example, it was considered routine for laboring patients to labor in bed
in dark cubicles, on their sides, with continuous, preferably intemal, fetal
, r monitoring and artificially ruptured membranes. There was even talk of
doing routine fetal scalp samples my final year of residency. So I began
to read about midwifery.
My chief resident year I became pregnant with my daughter,
Amanda. She was delivered safely after a high—tech labor, including
i induction, epidural, artificially ruptured membranes, and intemal fetal
ii monitor. She was a beautiful, strong, eight pound thirteen ounce baby,
but my labor experience was the antithesis of my philosophy of minimal
Q intervention, and consequently difficult.
Q When I became pregnant the second time, I was much more
educated. I had spent two years in Saipan, a tiny island near Guam,
it helping my husband, who is also an OB, cover a midwifery service of
°r seventy-five to one hundred deliveries each month. Although the
midwives on Saipan came from diverse training programs, including
r` Ireland and Fiji, they all had the same basic philosophies and teclmiques:
y r` 1) Pregnancy and labor are predominantly normal conditions, 2) the keys
j to labor support are caring and empowerment ofthe laboring woman, and
, I 3) minimize trarna, both physical and psychological. Ruth, a midwife of
g over 20 years, had much to teach two newly trained residents, and she
I taught us well. I became evangelized.
} L So it was that I began my second pregnancy with a search for a
l
`

2 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE A
midwife. Initially I was in the Washington, D.C. area and found a ,
wonderful team doing home deliveries called BirthCare, in Alexandria, I
Virginia. But my husband was assigned by the Public Health Service to
Whitesburg, Kentucky, and I began the search for a midwife anew. .
My calls led me to Nancy Clark, C.N.M., Ph.D. At that time I
knew only that she was a certified nurse-midwife who was willing to
consider me for a home delivery. I soon came to realize that she is also (
Dean of FNS's Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, the t
oldest, continuously operating school of midwifery in the USA. We had I,
several long discussions about my previous labor and delivery, my i
current childbirth education (Bradley Method), my backup system, my
current (normal) pregnancy, and she agreed to assist my husband and
myself in a home birth. Z
On October I2, 1990, my water broke at 5:30a.m. I tried resting
but was much too excited, so I cleaned the house and cooked instead. I _
began having mild contractions around l():30a.m., so I called my
husband, Will, home from work, called the babysitter for my daughter
Amanda, and called Nancy. Then Will and I went for a glorious walk up ‘
the mountain behind our house. The trees were in full foliage against a
clear blue sky. Eventually my contractions grew closer and stronger, so l
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Anne E. StohrerM.D., herhusband Will Ellis MD., andtheirthreeyearolddaughterAmanda 7
admire the new baby Andrew. `
l
l

QUARTERLY BULLETIN 3
I we returned home. I called Nancy, asking her to come down, and I
, alternately rested and walked until Nancy and her birth assistant, Wendy
Q Wagers, CNM, arrived. At 3:0Op.m. I was six centimeters, at 5:00p.m.
~ I was nine centimeters dilated, and there I stalled for three hours. I
I breathed, changed positions, wailed, and watched the sun set outside our
_ windows. Nancy sat, touched, did intermittent auscultation, and waited.
V Wheneverl feltl was sinking under with pain Nancy’s gaze would draw
[* me out. She poured her strength into me. Finally I began pushing despite
a lack of urge to push. The baby rotated, descended, and three contrac-
i tions laterl delivered my eight pound eight ounce Andrew from the knee
j chest position into Nancy’s waiting hands. He, too, was beautiful and
i strong, and as soon as he was delivered he was passed to me and I walked
‘ around the bed to lie down and get acquainted with him. Will was with
{ me throughout the entire labor and delivery. He helped me breathe,
- talked to me and provided moral support. Soon Amanda came home
‘ from our friend’s house where she had played during the labor. She was
ecstatic to see her baby brother and we all three snuggled in bed together.
n Andrew’s birth reaffirmed my faith in midwifery deliveries. It
f was an empowering, strengthening experience; one that did not impose
~ higher risks for me or my child. It was also deeply moving: Nancy’s face
and eyes communicated her strength and compassion to me far more than
pi any epidural could. And her hands were as knowledgeable as any I have
. known.
I am now, as then, working at the Frontier Nursing Service,
, again covering a midwifery service, again in training midwives. I feel
that a midwife attended, normal delivery is an appropriate delivery.
i Certified nurse midwives can and should be delivering the majority of
· infants in the world. Midwives offer a unique and superior approach to
. labor and delivery, combining technical knowledge with emotional
support. I hope that the trend in the United States continues toward
A nonnal midwife deliveries, at home, in hospitals or in birthing centers.
,, I believe it to be the right direction. As for me, I would do it all again.
= And I may.
E -Anne E. S tohrer M .D.
l
l

4 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE _ ·
Frontier Nursing Service <
Sixty Year Study of Nurse-Midwifery: 1925-1985
The following is the first in a series of articles about an V
ongoing study analyzing the effectiveness ofthe work ofthe V
Frontier Nursing Service. One ofthe truly unique features V i
of this study is the ability to trace a family's medical history Y"
for three generations through the records maintained over i
the more than sixty years of FNS 's operation. We hope the in
fndings of this study will in some way assist in improving l
health care delivery throughout the nation. `
In 1952, Mary Breckinridge wrote in her book Wide Neighborhoods, `
“F rom the beginning I had the wish to do the work so
well, and to keep such accurate records of it, that others Q
would study it .... " l
Her carefully kept statistics were analyzed by the Metropolitan Life l
Insurance Company up to the ten thousandth birth in 1958. Their report ·
concluded that nurse-midwifery care had revolutionized matemal/child E
health care statistics; demonstrated a decrease in matemal and infant j
deaths; and effected a dramatic improvement in the health of mothers and
babies in Eastem Kentucky. The skill and careful documentation begun p
by Mrs. Breckinridge are the heritage for nurse—midwifery today. The l
quality of nurse-midwifery care and the excellent outcomes are well V
known to the readers of the Quarterly Bulletin. The heritage of quality {
care and improved outcomes, however, has gone beyond the mountains.
Repeatedly, nurse—midwives have demonstrated their effectiveness in 9
project after project in this country and abroad. ’
The need to continue the study of nurse-midwifery at Frontier I
Nursing Service is evident in the many research projects and publications
found in the University of Kentucky FNS archival collection as well as -
governmental support for the increased need for nurse-midwives in F
matemal/child health care. Ruth Beeman, (FSMFN Dean 1983-1988 and f `g'`
Co-Principal Investigator) and Dr. Claire Andrews, (Chairperson of Q
Community Health Nursing and Director of the Nurse-Midwifery Pro- j
gram at Case Westem Reserve University — Frances Payne Bolton School ‘
of Nursing) responded to the challenge and the enormous undertaking.
With a research commitment equal to Mrs. Breckimidge's and a desire to
expand and go beyond the previous Metropolitan Life Insurance statisti— g

, QUARTERLY BULLETIN 5
= ’ ‘ ir 4 ;; g ~; I · ,i · VI
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u (Left) Zong-Ke He, M.D. , Claire Andrews, PhD., CNM, Principal Investigator, and
V Erica Goodman analyze research documents at Wendover.
A cal analysis, Mrs. Beeman and Dr. Andrews wrote a successful grant and
* received funding to study nurse—midwifery and outcomes at FNS from
· l925—l985+. The National Center for Nursing Research within the
. National Institute of Health supported the grant with a high priority score
A itr
· -- :~ FUNNY; ·¤*"‘i »_ ,1
· t ' ~ ,
i ;;~Y§ ~* ; =—‘ it -’·¤ *‘ ‘ “"¢~¤.
i‘t- ri L; i»‘— gf} ° __,,_ ‘*»¢€;.~ i .»
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p
A L-Ruth Beeman, MPH, CNM, Co-Principal Investigator and Erica Goodman, MS,
. CNM, Project Director review the FNS records kept in the UK Archives.
x

6 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE
and indicated that the FNS has frequently served as a model for »
quality maternity service". findings from the (proposed research) would 4
have significant implications for nurse-midwives in particular but would
also be of interest to others concemed with the outcomes of matemity
seryices.". ji
This three year grant (7/1/87 through ll/30/90), entitled Sjgtty ir
Years of Nurse—Midwifery: Practice-Outcome Analysis, will describe I
nurse-midwifery care and the effects on birth/death statistics of the
mothers and babies within FNS's care during the last sixty-four years. {"
Advanced computer technology is blended with human commitment to I
carefully duplicate and analyze more than 23,000 midwifery records. ·
The research team is also an excellent blend of experts in computer ‘
technology, research methods and analysis, nurse-midwifery faculty and
students (past and present) with doctoral and master‘s educational prepa- A
ration and clinically experienced.
The project director, Erica Goodman, was employed by FNS (9/ I
79 through 6/86) as family nurse practitioner, district nurse and clinic f
director (Oneida), and nurse-midwife (84-86). Students of the Frontier (
School of Midwifery and Family Nursing have been involved in the
ongoing research through the affiliation agreement (1985) between the
Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing (FSMFN) and Case <
Westem Reserve University. FSMFN students meet the criteria for I
admission into the graduate MSN program at Frances Payne Bolton {
School of Nursing and are able to eam their Masters Degree by complet- ,
ing 9 credit hours at CWRU in addition to the credits eamed at FSMFN. A
Transfering FSMFN midwifery students may elect research experience
with this grant project, as a component of their graduate education. h
Several FSMFN graduates have contributed to the grant through individ- i
ual research projects:
Ellen Carton FSMFN '88, FPB '89 contributing to the develop- J
ment of a historical timeline for FNS and amrotated available historical W
materials at FPB.
Barbara Shapiro FSMFN '88, FPB '89 examined the manage-
ment of second stage labor from selected FNS midwifery records. f
Cathy Lingeman FSMFN '88, FPB '89 studied Fetal Outcome
measures compared for FNS, Kengtsky, and the Llnited States Vital ’

QUARTERLY BULLETIN 7
» Statistics.
r Graham O FSMFN ‘88, FPB *89 explored the Concept of fetal
1 well-being: Its measures and practice at FNS, Graham's research was
?t of such good quality that she was honored at graduation with the Helen
] Lathrop Bunge Award in recognition of her competence in research and
fi her creative ability.
*, Current '89 graduates involved in the FNS research are Kristy
it Higgs who will be assisting with reliability and validity testing and Sue
. Peeples who will be co—writing a grant for a historical display of the
_ timeline.
» · During the proposal writing of the grant, contracts and permis-
sions were obtained to microfilm all of the FNS midwifery records from
V 1925 to 1988. The grant supported the purchase of a micronlm camera
for FNS. While the computer program was being developed and the
research room equipped with several data tenninals and mini main-
» frames to hold the comprehensive information, Nancy Williams of FNS
` devoted her effects to the careful microfilming of all available records.
I Nancy deserves much credit for both her care and expert skill as well as
her important contributions to interpreting changes in the records over
Q the years.
1 The second year of the grant began with a completed software
r package that contained 2,221 possible bits of information for @
Q midwifery record. While research assistants entered this infonnation
‘ from the microfilm directly into the computer's memory, the rest of the
research team visited FNS during the summer of 1988 and continued to
· search out needed resources for the research project. This included
i locating missing midwifery records and additional information needed
to explain the data from the microfilmed records.
T The third year of the grant finds the research room at Frances
‘ Payne Bolton humming every day. Twelve data entry people have been
,. diligently working to meet the deadline of November 30, 1990. Re-
A cently, six of us were able to make another research trip to FNS; February
1-3. We spent a day at the UK archives, collecting supportive materi-
1 als for the grant. Two days were spent at FNS to copy the finer historical
j details and to give the research assistants an opportunity to visit places
like Hell-fer-Sartin, Confluence, and many others.
I The opportunity to experience FNS firsthand, to stay at Mary

8 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE
‘`·’ i V‘ if
.1.=,. _ :' :·_V‘` Sandy Lacivita, Re- .
‘ search Assistant, ad-
· T J mires brickl from
, . =V: . V V VS·I mf? _ I,I_. . &<*·r`·~"*** _A,I, Florence NightingaIe‘s
;,;*;Q Ae_V home. The brick, Io-
1 W, ` cated in Haggin Quar- Jr
if _. *~<2¤S*_¤¤ *¤r FSMFN
S ;_`» IT] IdWlfG Ty SYU d9Tit$) *~
5 , ~ {__, was presented to FNS i
. A, . I $e¤j¤j=;¤* ¤¤r_<*¤<**¤¤· i
_.I ‘ G. ,,,.,V,; ` .* ,,~»v V V,_r , *0** 0 0 *****0***9 P*0· 5
<** mn- r
Breckinridge‘s Wendover home —— The Big House, to enjoy the Wen-
dover kitchen's fine meals, and to travel the same roads that are part of `
FNS's history, inspired the team. Indeed, it was a unique team of
individuals. Sandy Lacivita, a perinatal nurse with interest in midwifery; ,
Mary Perlic, a biomedical engineer who has changed professions to
become a critical care pediatric nurse; Co-shi Chantal Chao, a Chinese
hospice nurse who will be developing the first hospice program in
Taiwan after completing her PhD; Zong-Ke He, a general surgeon from I
Mainland China who is currently a nursing student at FPB; and Zai-Bing E
Wang, an obstetrician from Mainland China, also a nursing student at i
FPB. FNS left a deep impression on the research team, a tremendous
respect for the mountain community and the nurses and physicians who
have provided care over the many years. The data they now enter has a
special meaning. V
In appreciation, the three Chinese students treated FNS guests A
and staff to a Chinese eight course meal honoring the Chinese New Year j `
of the Horse. As we all sat beneath Mary Breckinridge's picture in the
Wendover living room, a fire in the fireplace, flood waters up Hurricane _
Creek, the research team and nurses from FNS (Mossie, Betsy McMil-
lan, Kathy Farmer) shared stories. We were carrying on an FNS g
tradition, while continuing Mary Brechinridge's legacy of a commitment B
to research -
"...to do the work so well, and to keep such accurate records of if
it, that others would study it."
- Erica Goodman

l
QUARTERLY BULLETIN 9
l
Meet The Board of Governors
The FNS Board of Governors is responsible for establish-
{ ing the policies by which FNS is governed, as well as
approving the annual budget and overseeing expendi-
A tures. Each member of the board brings unique gg’ts and
a personal history of involvement with FNS to his or her
position of leadership; and each has a key role to play in
~%> the governance ofthe Service. Beginning with this issue
l of theB ulletin, we will be introducing individual members
i ofthe Board of Governors, in random order, two or three
l at a time. We will try to be diligent about this, and present
. the entire board before too many years have passed.
i _ Rufus Fugate
Q ` Bom on the Fourth of July, 1932, in Kryp-
ton (in Perry County, near the Leslie r,.· r*‘° il p
g County line), Rufus Fugate can justifiably g p__, {
i Claim a lifelong comiection to the area Hg ’f‘k . °‘-· Q in ‘
, was not an FNS baby, but was delivered by * jx.- I J r
` one of the lay midwives who served the , 5
q area at that time. _ Qi ` `
I A graduate of Vicco High School, ` E
Rufus went on to Alice Lloyd College, Y?
r from which he obtained an Associate de- _ lg _- 1,
` gree in 1953. From there it was on to U.K. i if
E and aB.S. in Agriculture in 1955. Later, he [ e’_i-`i i I
obtained a M.Ed. in Adult Education from ,
North Carolina State.
Rufus began his employment in Leslie County in 1957 as an
1, assistant agricultural extension agent. The next year, in what he de-
_- scribes as one of the best decisions of his life, he manied Clarinda Jane
3 Combs. They have two children: Effie Layne Markalonis is an attomey
` in Hazard; Martin Lee Fugate is recently discharged from the Air Force.
, Rufus retired from his post as extension agent in January, and looks
, forward to spending time with J ane at their new Florida home.
i Rufus’ involvement with FNS began with a community demon-

10 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE
stration garden which he established in the "big bottom" across from
Kate Ireland’s house "Willow Bend", near Wendover. His superiors .
advised against such an undertaking: "Drought, blight, f1ood——whatever
can go wrong will go wrong," he was told. He was determined, however,
to show Leslie County what could be done with improved gardening
techniques, and pressed on with the project. The use of black plastic gs
mulch and the appropriate use of fungicides were among the techniques {
demonstrated in the garden. Local growers of tomatoes, okra, and other
crops saw the improved yields, and were able to apply the new techniques i,
to their own plots.
Through this project, Rufus came in contact with a number of
FNS staff, many of whom were interested in conservation and gardening.
As his interest in FNS grew, he began to see the Service not only as a I
provider of health care services, but also as a key employer and major
element in the overall development of the Leslie County area. Rufus
served from 1975 to 1989 as Chairman of the FNS District Advisory ·
Committee. In recent years he has served on both the Mary Breckinridge tj
HealthCare Board of Directors and the FNS Board of Govemors. _
Rufus is dedicated to the health and continuation of the Frontier L
Nursing Service not only because of its historical significance, but also _
because of its many ongoing contributions to Leslie County. He is the
first to point out the many changes which have occurred in Leslie County j
since the Frontier Nursing Service was established, but notes that the
Service has always responded to those changes. Because of that l
flexibility, Rufus foresees a continuing role for FN S. "Leslie County still .
has needs that only an organization like FNS can address," he says. I
Nancy Hines
Nancy Hines is a Kentuckian from slightly further afield, having spent ..
her childhood in Greenup, Kentucky. She graduated from Berea College j,
in 1964 with a B.A. in Biology, and shortly thereafter began her employ-
ment with the Social Security Administration. She has worked for the ,
SSA in several locations throughout the state, and is currently the
Manager ofthe Jackson Office. She is active in a variety of civic affairs,
and currently serves as Commissioner for the Kentucky Valley Aca-
demic League, which conducts academic competitions among sixteen A
high schools in an eight·county area of southeast Kentucky. C

· QUARTERLY BULLETIN ll
. Nancy has lived in Leslie C0u¤ty ..__ . \____,. . _. _,:, _ .
· since 1968, when she and her husband 5 Q
Floyd moved here in connection with ''`A l i'`4“4``4 I
Floyd’s appointment as head coach of the ~ I ’ I
i Leslie County High School football team. g » ~ V ·*c »··c
_ Coach Hines continues in that post, and is A ,` °’ I
also supervisor of instruction and com-
? puter coordinator for the Leslie County llih -
? school system. Their son Mark is a sopho- ‘ _
` more at Transylvania University in Lex- ;
ington.
I Nancy’s involvement with FNS
° began with her appointment to the Board · —
‘ of Directors of Mary Breckinridge Health
g Care, Inc. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Frontier
Nursing Health and Education, Inc, and the FNS, Inc, Board of Gover-
j nors.
` One of her concems regarding Frontier Nursing Service is the
rate of tumover among health care providers. She would like to see more
` stability of the professional staff. The general population of Leslie
f County is highly stable, and in her view high staff turnover has been
` disconcerting for patients and detrimental to quality of care. Another of
_ ` her goals is to increase the number of nurse midwives graduated from the
I Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing.
. Like Rufus Fugate, Nancy Hines sees as a great strength the
i ability of FNS to respond to the changing needs of Leslie County. "I am
r encouraged and excited about recent changes in the organization," she
;, says.
. -Carl Severance
if

12 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE
MEMOIRS OF FNS DAYS
The following letters are from former graduates of
F SMFN. They were printed in the Alumni Newsletter but
we wanted to share them with QuarterlyBulletin readers. Q
In the early 60's I was not conscious of the "Women‘s Movement", if it W
was even around then. I didn't like OB as a nursing student it was as l
uninteresting as the OR. The moms were sedated, anesthetized, deliv- it
ered of their babies, sewn up and sent to recover. .
But I went to FNS because of an interest in Public Health and ,
ended up in midwifery school. The first home delivery I attended taught
me a lot more than I realized at the time. l
A call came that Sally Fay was in labor with her fourth child. My
instructor and I drove out to Wolf Creek in some trusty jeep, whose name ,
has faded from memory. When we arrived at the small cabin, Sally let lj
us in and asked us to sit on the couch. We waited the husband appeared
and gave us a shy greeting on his way out the door. Sally got each of her *
three children into their jackets, sniffed a little toy into their pockets as
she kissed each one and sent them outside to play. We sat and watched.
Sally went into the kitchen, we heard her washing out the basin, tossing
water out the door and tidying up. Then she invited us in to set up our
things. She was obviously familiar with the midwives' routine the .
kitchen was spotless and water was already heated for our hand washing. l
While we were unpacking the saddlebags Sally got into bed and »
looked uncomfortable for the first time. We did the routine assessment V
and found her to be in advanced labor the cervix dilated to 7 cms. Soon T
the new baby arrived. It was a quiet, joyful, powerful birth. I was totally
in awe of this simple, strong woman who had orchestrated the whole
event. The experience was a humbling one which instilled in me a deep I)
respect for the dignity of childbirth. Yes, the mothers of Kentucky
opened my eyes to the inherent strength of women. ,
—Phyllis J. Long, Class of 1965 A
While in nurses training I loved OB, so in 1954 I discovered FNS and I
decided to be a midwife. I arrived in Hyden by bus from Fargo, ND and l

( QUARTERLY BULLETIN 13
the ride from Manchester was just 'awesome'. I had never seen such big
hills so close together in all my life. I was met by Betty Lester in
downtown Hyden and taken up Hospital Hill.
I chose to work General Duty for 6 months to see how I liked
FNS. Well, in those 6 months I fell in love with it. I visited and went
kx along with the district midwives at the various outposts and the Hyden
District nurse, and when spring came I was really excited about taking the
l midwifery course. I moved over to Mardi Cottage (student midwives
li quarters) with 5 other girls and we had great times. Our classes were
r around the dining room table taught by Miss Rayson, an English
1 midwife, who had a great way of teaching and such a gentle touch with
_ the mothers and babies.
V After completing the midwifery course I spent 2 wonderful years
out at Confluence Nursing Center with Nancy Hero ('5 6). Nancy is still
f a midwife in Thailand. In 1958 I went back to ND and married my
Q ‘special friend' of high school days. We have 7 children, live on a
farrnstead and I still do nursing, but only part-time. The first 5 children
i are either married or out on their own, but the last 2 were twins and they
t are still in high school a joy and they keep us young.
. In 1986 our daughter Julie and her husband took me back on a
trip to the Kentucky mountains and FNS. We stayed at Wendover in the
Big House and even slept in Mrs. Breckinridge's room. I can't put into
I words the feelings that came within me to be back walking those hills
after 30 years. The tears came many times.
j It was sad to see Possum Bend Nursing Center was no more at
p Confluence. The swinging bridge across the Middle Fork, the Baptist
church (though it had been moved higher on the hill) and Wilder Branch
y were still there. We visited Miss Evelyn‘s Chapel at the mouth of Hell-
fer-Sartin. The ceiling had fallen in but I could still picture Flicka or Doc
W tied out there weekly, as I held clinics. It was sad I couldn't find my way
or the old path we used to ride across the mountain and back down on
* Wilder Branch.
. There were roads now to travel on instead of creek beds the
Q roads didn't always follow the creeks and then I became lost as to who
lived where and I would cry again. Changes and progress are needed I
, know, but I wanted to see the dear people and hills as I had left them.
‘_ -Beulah (Olson) F orness, Class 0f 1955

I
Q.
1
14 FRONTIER NURSING SERVICE
Beyond The Mountains
On January 17, 1990 I flew to Cleveland to meet with Kitty Emst,
Director of National Association of Childbearing Centers, Ruth Lubic, I
Director of Maternity Center Association and Joyce Fitzpatrick, Dean of
the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Westem Reserve j
Un