A wise and tenacious voice for women and newborns, Margaret Ann “Peg” Marshall, CNM, EdD, MPH, MLA, MA, FACNM, was a dear sister and aunt, a midwife for the world and a consummate friend. She was taken by cancer on July 3rd not long after she was vaccinated against COVID.
Peg was well-educated with degrees in liberal arts, nursing, public health, education, and Latin American Studies, as well as certified as a nurse-midwifery. Known for her work in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Peg started her international work in Asia in 1980 on the Thai-Cambodian border refugee camps, run by the International Committee of the Red Cross, where she trained traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and supervised barefoot doctors. She then served at the Ali Matan Refugee Camp in Somalia. These two experiences informed her deep interest and care for refugees, displaced persons and all people affected by conflict and poverty.
Working closely with midwives and physicians in numerous countries, she partnered and mentored many and, through long-standing relationships, was able to influence policy, education, and practice mandates for midwives. During her time as Senior Technical Advisor for Maternal and Child Health and Infectious Diseases at USAID, she provided leadership for the control of malaria and attention to antimicrobial resistance. With other collaborators, Peg led the creation of the South American Malaria Initiative.
Peg was an educator throughout her life. She served on the clinical faculty at Georgetown University and the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Nurse-Midwifery Educational Programs. She authored and co-authored curricula and training manuals for community health workers, traditional birth attendants , nurses, and midwives on family planning and maternal newborn health. She co-authored, the Life Savings Skills Manual for Midwives for the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), a key resource for enhancing the skills of frontline midwives. This volume was translated into Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Bahasa Indonesia and Czech, used in WHO training modules, and implemented in numerous countries.
Midwifery characterized Peg’s persona. Certified as a nurse-midwife in the US, and other countries she also provided midwifery care at Baltimore City Hospital in Maryland and served as Nurse-Midwifery Administrator at Montefiore Hospital in Bronx, New York, as the Director of Nurse-Midwifery at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Elizabeth, New, Jersey, and Coordinator of the US/Mexico Exchange Program for the Georgetown University Nurse-Midwifery program. She was employed by ACNM as Director of the Special Projects/Global Outreach Program. In 2010, Peg was honored by the ACNM Foundation with the Dorothea M. Lang Pioneer Award for her exceptional vision and innovative leadership in the advancement of American and global maternal and child health.
Peg will be remembered around the world as an outstanding colleague, trusted advisor, and dear friend. Her intelligence, perseverance, thoughtfulness, hospitality, and generosity of spirit will live on in the lives of all those whom she touched.
Funeral services was held Saturday, July 17, 2021 at the Burgess & Tedesco Funeral Home, 25 Broad St., Hamilton, NY, followed by interment in the Hillside Cemetery, Georgetown, NY.