Patricia O Loftman

Patricia “Pat” O. Loftman, CNM, FACNM, MS, LM

“Pat received a BSN from Skidmore College and a CNM, MS in midwifery from Columbia University. She is a certified nurse-midwife and past Midwifery Service Director at Harlem Hospital Center who provided primary and reproductive health care to women while developing an expertise in providing care to women whose pregnancies were complicated by chemical dependency and/or HIV infection. Loftman testified around Unblinding The Results of HIV Testing of Newborns in New York City in 1995 and participated as a member of the United States Public Health Service Task Force on the Use of Zidovudine to Reduce Perinatal Transmission. She served as a member of the ACTG 076 US Public Health Service Taskforce on The US Public Health Service Recommendation for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Counseling & Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women in 1994-1995. With the Center for Women’s Policy Studies and representing the Planning Workshop of The Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health, Pat participated in discussions relating to mandatory testing of pregnant women and partner notification.

Pat was Chair of the Women’s Health/Clinical Care Group that led to Harlem Hospital Center becoming the first World Health Organization Baby Friendly Hospital in New York City. She has precepted midwifery students clinically, been an advocate for quality health care for women of color nationally and continues to promote the midwifery profession. Pat retired in 2010 from Harlem Hospital Center after a midwifery career that spanned 30 wonderful years in the community she loves.“

Source: https://www.wbur.org/npr/543723927/often-missing-from-the-current-health-care-debate-womens-voices