Molly Altman PhD, CNM, MPH

I’m an assistant professor in the Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing department and track lead for the nurse-midwifery and women’s health clinical nurse specialist tracks of the DNP program. My experience as a nurse-midwife in clinical practice for over 15 years has provided the grounding for my program of research around respectful and equitable care provision during pregnancy and childbirth. I completed the transdisciplinary postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco’s Preterm Birth Initiative in which I focused my research on exploring women and birthing people’s experiences interacting with health care providers in the context of respectful care provision, particularly regarding racism, discrimination, and bias in health care interactions. My current program of research uses a variety of methods including in-depth qualitative methodologies, instrument development, and community-based participatory methods to assess and address issues in care provision for communities at risk for poor birth outcomes, specifically BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.

Education:

Washington State University 2015; MPH – University of Washington 2006; MN – University of Washington 2005, BSN – University of Vermont 2002.

Awards, accolades and distinguished memberships:

2021 – Washington State Nurses Association Nurse Researcher Award

2021 – Fellowship in the American College of Nurse-Midwives

2019 – Van Hooser Scholar — University of Washington

2018 – Preterm Birth Initiative Discovery Aim Research Scholar – University of California, San Francisco

2015 – Excellence in Teaching Award – American College of Nurse-Midwives

2006 – Certificate of Excellence for Maternal Child Health Contributions – University of Washington

What classes do you teach?

NURS 541, NURS 542, NURS 543, NMETH 801, NURS 573

What do you love about the UW School of Nursing?

My joy with working in the UW School of Nursing comes from the students. I love the reciprocity of teaching and learning that is nurtured within the DNP program. I learn just as much from my students as I could ever impart on them. My work and passion fits within the larger School of Nursing mission to improve equity and better support students from historically excluded communities, and I’m proud to continue the work of bringing anti-racism into nursing education.

Scholarly work (projects not listed in PubMed, such as books, publications or videos)

Afulani PA, Altman MR, Castillo E, Bernal N, Jones L, Camara T, Carrasco Z, Williams S, Sudhinaraset M, Kupperman M. Development of the Person-Centered Prenatal Care scale for people of color. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2021, April. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2021.04.216.

 

Altman MR, Gavin AR, Eagen-Torkko MK, Kantrowitz-Gordon I, Khosa R, Mohammed SA. Where the system failed: the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on pregnancy and birth care. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 2021, March. doi.org/10.1177/23333936211006397

 

Altman MR, Kim J, Busse M, Ervin A, Unite M, Kantrowitz-Gordon I. Community-engaged research  priority setting around opioid use disorder in pregnancy and parenting. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 2020 Nov. doi:10.1097/ADM.0000000000000783.

 

Altman MR, Kantrowitz-Gordon I, Moise E, Malcolm K, Vidakovic M, Barrington W, O’Connor MR, de Castro AB. Addressing positionality to mitigate systemic racism within case-based learning. Nurse Educator, 2020, Oct 31.. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000937.

 

Altman MR, McLemore MR, Oseguera T, Lyndon A, Franck L. Listening to women: Recommendations from women of color to improve experiences in pregnancy and birth care. Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 2020 June. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.13102

 

Altman MR, Oseguera T, McLemore MR, Kantrowitz-Gordon I, Franck L, Lyndon A. Information and Power: Women of color’s experiences interacting with health care providers in pregnancy and birth. Social Science and Medicine, 2019 Oct, 238: 112491. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112491.

 

Altman MR, Baer RB, Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL. Patterns of preterm birth among women of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent. American Journal of Perinatology, 2018, Dec 21. doi: 10.1055/s-0038-1676487

 

McLemore MR, Altman MR, Cooper N, Williams S. Rand L, Franck L. Health care experiences of pregnant and postnatal women of color at risk for preterm birth. Social Science & Medicine, 2018; 201: 127-135.

Research Areas

• Community engaged research
• LGBTQ+ communities
• Respectful perinatal care
• Health care disparities

Department

Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing

Research Areas

• Innovative Interventions
• Health Equity
• Lifespan Health