Meet the new ICM secretary general: Kathy Herschderfer tells Elizabeth Duff about her experiences around the world which have led to her feeling 'at home in the global community'.

• Auteur: Herschderfer, Kathy
• Tenlastelegging: Institute for Complementary Medicine - Interview

KH: It wasn't a very early decision--the realisation grew slowly out of seeing the need for different kinds of health workers in the community.

I grew up in a quite disadvantaged area in Connecticut, in the USA, and became aware of the sort of problems that women and children face when they are poor and cannot access appropriate health services.

Later, in the 1970s, I was studying at university in Madison, Wisconsin, and at that time became involved in some community projects, which included street clinics, self-help groups for women, and other things related to health. We were training people to act as advocates for those who were having difficulty gaining access to health care. It seemed to me that, especially for women at the vulnerable rime around the birth of their children, it was very necessary to offer them continuity, of care, with support and information, and proper explanations of the services they might need. All of this led me to think that working as a midwife might be a role where I could make a difference in these kinds of communities.

Q: What was happening in midwifery in the USA at the time?

KH: It was the time when there was a lot of radical thinking about childbirth, and new ways of providing maternity care were being talked about. This came about as a reactionm to the the medical model of birth being practised at that time.

Q: Did you train to be a midwife straight away?

KH: No--I was still thinking about it! Meanwhile I was doing a lot of travelling around the world, especially in central America and then in Europe and Africa. I was never employed by one of the large international organisations, but I became involved with smaller projects, many related to health. I was able to learn how these projects were set up and meet some inspiring midwives and other healthcare workers. I was also able to experience traditional midwifery.

Finally, I fetched up in the Netherlands, renowned for its unique system of healthcare in which midwifery is practised as an independent and autonomous profession, and where home birth is considered normal. This seemed like the best place to study midwifery, so I settled down for a time to do my training, qualified as a midwife and then joined a midwifery practice.

Q: But you later moved into the field of midwifery research?

KH: I have been told that I am always asking questions--this can be quite a useful habit as a practising midwife, but it's also an excellent start to doing research.

I was...