midwifery activist, educator, community organizer. Prown earned her B.A. from Grinnell College (1985) and her M.A. (1988) and Ph.D (1993) from The College of William and Mary. From 1990 to 1999 she taught English and Women’s Studies at William and Mary, developing courses on women and reproductive technologies, women and medicine, women’s fiction, and women writers of the South. After coming to Wisconsin, she provided continuing education workshops for midwives, attorneys and other professionals on the legal issues surrounding VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean) bans and midwifery law. Prown drafted legislation to license Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) and co-led a statewide, bi-partisan grassroots campaign to successfully pass the bill into law in 2006. Beginning in 2004 she served as Legislative Chair of the the Wisconsin Guild of Midwives, and was a founder of Wisconsin Birth Options, a statewide grassroots network devoted to maternity care in Wisconsin.

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[Source: Submitted by Mary Potter of Alverno College. Interview with Prown (Dec. 2, 2011). LinkedIn profile viewed Nov. 28, 2011. Profile at Prown&Associates Web site, viewed Nov. 28, 2011.]