December 2025: Welcome our First Director of Midwifery Education!
We are thrilled to wrap up our calendar year with some fantastic news: Nurses Heart to Heart has appointed our very first Director of Midwifery Education, Dr. Tanya Owens!
Dr. Owens has been a part of the NHTH community for many years and has traveled with us to Mongolia three times.
She has worked as a Certified Nurse Midwife for over 26 years and currently serves as a Nurse Midwife for the Virginia Department of Health and Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, in particular serving vulnerable populations in rural areas.
As the mission of Nurses Heart to Heart has grown, supporting midwives has developed into a core part of the work we do. Tanya will be leading our midwifery education and planning; her research and teaching expertise, as well as her clinical experience, will help us be the best partners we can be for the midwives we serve. Her role will include the following:
meeting with local partners to understand their needs
assessing how NHTH can best meet those needs
working with local partners to find creative ways of bridging the gap between best practices and "on the ground" realities
and joining the NHTH team in the field for teaching trips
Tanya says, "Nurses and midwives are the backbone of healthcare systems worldwide. I am honored to take on this volunteer leadership role with Nurses Heart to Heart to support the education and professional development of nurses and midwives across the globe, strengthening care for women, families, and communities.” We are so excited to bring Dr. Owens onto the NHTH team!