Meet the 
Nurse-Midwifery faculty

Lisa Kane Low, CNM, PhD, FACNM kanelow@umich.edu

Education
PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2001
Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1999
Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching, University of Pennsylvania, 1996
MS, University of Illinois, 1987
BSN, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1984

Research Interests
Care practices during the process of birth include the role of social support. Areas of focus have included qualitative review of the experience of childbirth for women and adolescents, the role of social support as provided by Doulas, care practices for women with a history of trauma or PTSD and management of the second stage of labor to prevent pelvic floor trauma.

Current Research
Development and Evaluation of Doulas Care: A community based outreach program (L. Kane Low, Principal Investigator)

The psychobiology of PTSD during childbirth (L. Kane Low, Co-Investigator; J. Seng, PhD, CNM, Principal Investigator)

Transitions in Reproductive Health Care in Northern Rural Honduras (L. Kane Low, Principal Investigator; J. Bailey, CNM, PhD, Co-Investigator)

Adolescents' Experiences of Childbirth: Nothing is Simple Phase 2 SCOR: The Gender Dynamics of Pelvic Floor Injury (L. Kane Low, Co-Investigator; J. Delancy, MD, Principal Investigator)

Jody Lori, CNM, MS jrlori@umich.edu

I am a graduate of the first Nurse-Midwifery class at the University of Michigan (1992).   I have worked as a nurse in various aspects of health care since 1974 and practiced full scope midwifery for 9 years prior to joining the Midwifery faculty in 2001. I have a strong commitment to improving women’s lives and their health care.   I have worked mainly with vulnerable populations ranging from inner city women with limited resources to women living in rural, isolated settings in both the United States and Central America.  I had the opportunity to establish the first nurse-midwifery service in Michigan’s rural Upper Peninsula and also helped to develop a grant funded doula service to provide disadvantaged women with labor and postpartum support.

I have been active on the International Health Committee of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, served as Chair of the Southeastern Chapter of the ACNM and participated on the Maternal/Child Health Advisory Committee on Perinatal HIV Reduction for the State of Michigan. I have worked to establish international placements for our nurse-midwifery students in Guatemala and New Zealand.  I also serve on the Board of Directors of Ixmucane, Centro de Partos y Salud de la Mujer, in Antigua, Guatemala. 

I am married and have two sons and one grandson!  I love to be anywhere near or on the water, travel, garden, cook, and spend time with my family.

Michelle O'Grady, MS, CNM mmidwif@umich.edu

I’ve been teaching at U-M School of Nursing since 1996, in the nurse-midwifery and undergraduate OB clinical courses; I advise students and serve in other capacities. I am a Certified Nurse-Midwife and have worked in urban settings for many years as a Registered Nurse and a CNM providing care to thousands of women and attending hundreds of births. I received a B.S in Biology from Illinois Benedictine College, a B.S. in Nursing and M.S. in Nurse-midwifery from the University of Illinois-Chicago, a post-Master’s Certificate in teaching from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed the UM's Faculty Scholars Program in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (now MIM). From 2001 to 2009, I directed the UM's Health Sciences Scholars Program, a living-learning community for undergraduates. I am now enrolled in the DNP program at Wayne State University. I consider teaching to be a kind of midwifery, where the work and the joy is in supporting people as they learn and move into new roles. My education as a nurse, experience as a midwife, and personal inclination lead to a supportive, collaborative teaching style and appreciation of life-long learning.

 I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and considers myself  “hopelessly Midwestern”. I enjoy hiking, music, animals, and family and friends in my non-working life.

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Michelle with intrapartum students
 attending a "practice birth"