Ernst, Kitty (1926–)

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Ernst, Kitty (1926–)

American nurse-midwife. Name variations: Eunice Ernst. Born Eunice Katherine MacDonald, July 21, 1926, in Weston, Massachusetts; awarded a bachelors in education from Hunter College (1957) and an MA in public health from Columbia University (1959); m. Albert T. Ernst; children: 3.

Contributor to the development of education and support programs for nurse-midwives, earned diploma from Waltham Hospital School of Nursing in Massachusetts (1947), then joined its staff; joined Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) as a night nurse for medicine, surgery, and pediatrics in rural Leslie Co., KY (1951); earned nurse-midwife certificate (1951); worked as a FNS public health nurse and nurse-midwife; served as nurse-widwife for Maternity Center Association (MCA) in New York City (1954–58); served as director of Cooperative Birth Center Network (CBCN), later named the National Association of Childbearing Centers (1981–93), becoming Mary Breckinridge chair of Midwifery and Family Nursing there (1991) and director of Consulting Group (1993). Received Maternity Center Association's Carola Warburg Rothschild Award (2003).