Eileen Ehudin Beard

American College of Nurse-Midwives



Eileen has been fascinated with the
birth process since childhood and fulfilled her dream to become a CNM in 1977
after graduating from State University of New York at Downstate. She has
practiced full scope midwifery care for most of her career. In 1981, Eileen
opened the first Birth Center in the State of Maryland. The Baltimore Birth
Center was open for more than twenty years. Eileen has served as a faculty
member of Georgetown University, and the Frontier School of Midwifery and
Family Nursing. She has also served as adjunct faculty and preceptor for
nursing, midwifery and nurse practitioner students across the country. From
1993 until 2003, Eileen was a Governor-Appointee Committee Member for the State
Commission on Infant Mortality. In 2003, Eileen went to Stony Brook University
and received her MS degree and Family Nurse Practitioner certificate. As a
nurse- midwife and family nurse practitioner, Eileen has had a special interest
in working with patients who are physically and mentally challenged. She and
her husband, Michael have ten children. They try to travel as often as
possible.

VBAC: A Modern Frontier for Choice Advocates

More and more women are being refused the right to give birth on their own terms as more and more hospitals ban women from VBACs. Choice means that a woman must have the freedom and support to compare the risks of VBAC and the risks of cesarean surgery.