News Release

Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health honors outstanding authors

Best Article Award and Mary Ann Shah New Author Award conferred

Grant and Award Announcement

Elsevier Health Sciences

St. Louis, MO, August 17, 2009 – Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information, announced that its publication, the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health (JMWH), the official journal of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, has honored four authors for their outstanding contributions to the Journal in 2008.

Editor-in-Chief Frances E. Likis, DrPH, NP, CNM, commented, "We are extremely pleased to be able to confer two awards each year to recognize exceptional achievement by contributing authors: the Best Article Award and the Mary Ann Shah New Author Award. Articles under consideration may address any aspect of clinical practice, policy, education or research." Winners are determined by members of the JMWH editorial board.

The Mary Ann Shah Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health New Author Award is given to a certified nurse-midwife or certified midwife who publishes for the first time as the primary author of a feature article or brief report in JMWH. It has been established to honor the accomplishments of Mary Ann Shah, CNM, MS, FACNM, Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, and recognizes her outstanding achievements as Editor-in-Chief for 25 years. Mary Ann Shah set the standard for the quality of the articles that appear in JMWH. She spearheaded the listing of JMWH in MEDLINE, edited countless submissions and mentored many first-time authors.

This year's Mary Ann Shah Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health New Author Award went to Peggy Rosati Allen, CNM, WHNP, MS. The award-winning contribution, published in the July/August 2008 issue, is "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Implications for Women and Their Health Care Providers During the Childbearing Years." This article provides an instructive overview of chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as insights into the experience of women with this complex, debilitating medical disorder, who are anticipating or experiencing pregnancy and the postpartum period. Expert opinion and current evidence provide guidelines for the care of women during pregnancy, labor and birth, lactation and the postpartum period.

The recipients of the annual Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health Best Article Award are Patricia Aikins Murphy, CNM, DrPH, FACNM; Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS; and Jane M. Dyer, CNM, MS. This award honors authors of a contribution to JMWH that enhances midwifery and women's health through publication. This year's winning article, "Cervical Cancer Screening Practices of Certified Nurse-Midwives in the United States," was published in the January/February 2008 issue. The purpose of the study was to determine how closely certified nurse-midwives in the US follow contemporary cervical cancer screening guidelines. It concluded that certified nurse-midwives are performing cervical cancer screening more frequently than current guidelines recommend and that education to limit unnecessary testing is needed.

Both awards are sponsored by Elsevier and were presented recently at the American College of Nurse-Midwives 54th Annual Meeting & Exposition in Seattle.

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