Bonnie
Urquhart
Gruenberg, CNM, MSN

Local Midwife Delivers Groundbreaking Book on Women's Health

ERIE, PA-October 26, 2005-Half the people seen by emergency medical services - (and all who give birth in rush-hour traffic!) are women. But in nearly two decades as a healthcare professional, Bonnie Urquhart Gruenberg, a Certified Nurse-Midwife at Lake Erie Women's Center, found little instructional material about women's issues for first responders.

"Working as an urban paramedic," she said, "I became keenly aware of the need for improved education in emergency obstetrics, gynecology and neonatology. Many ambulance calls involved situations never covered in textbooks or formal training. When I looked for books on these topics specifically written for EMS personnel, I was astonished to find that none existed."

Essentials of Prehospital Maternity Care, just published by Brady Books (a division of Prentice Hall), is a unique and important addition to EMS literature. It is not only the first major-length work for EMTs and paramedics devoted to the management of obstetrical and gynecological emergencies; it also combines generally accepted practices of EMS with the holistic, patient-centered principles of midwifery and the latest medical research.

"Here is a great bridge builder," said Brenda Surabian, a midwife and EMT in Parsonsfield, Maine. "This book provides a concise picture of what should be taught to prehospital emergency medical personnel about maternity care." She added, "The drawings are fantastic."

Essentials is intended mainly to be used in classes for EMS personnel, but a reviewer on Amazon.com wrote, "It doesn't read like a textbook. The author's style makes even difficult material interesting enough to hold the attention of independent students at any level of expertise. Parents-to-be could also learn a great deal from it."

After serving as an EMT and paramedic in Connecticut, Bonnie Urquhart Gruenberg earned a B.S. in nursing from Southern Vermont College, from which she graduated valedictorian, and a master's degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. She has delivered more than 300 babies in tertiary-care hospitals, in the homes of the Amish in rural Lancaster County, Pa., and at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, where she has practiced since 2003. Her published works include Hoofprints in the Sand, a book about the feral horses of the Atlantic coast (Eclipse, 2002), and articles in nursing and EMS journals. She is also an award-winning artist and photographer, a Web designer and an equestrian.