Ventre, Fran (1941–)

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Ventre, Fran (1941–)

American nurse-midwife. Name variations: Fran Katz. Born Aug 14, 1941, in Brooklyn, NY; dau. of Sonia and Fred Katz; University of Wisconsin, BS, 1962; Montgomery College, nursing degree, 1977; graduate of Georgetown University nurse-midwifery program, 1978; Boston University, MA in public health, 1991; m. Robert Ventre, c. 1963; children: 2.

Helped found the Home Oriented Maternity Experience (HOME) for women interested in home births (1970s); contributed immensely to the successful block of a bill that threatened midwifery licensing (1978); volunteered in Senegal (West Africa) and worked with Doctors of the World in Kosovo, Serbia; opened the 1st freestanding birth centers in the state of MA (1980) and Brooklyn, NY (1999).