Director - Community Birth and Doula Initiative
EDC; MA Dept of Public Health
Rebecca Herman is a public health expert, and certified midwife. For almost 20 years, she has led successful initiatives to improve perinatal health, address health disparities, promote adolescent health, and respond to gender-based violence. She specializes in midwifery integration in MCH systems, quality improvement, program design, project management, health service delivery, and facilitation and training.
As a key member of EDC’s Maternal Health & Home Visiting team, Ms. Herman leads the Massachusetts' Department of Public Health's Community Birth and Doula Integration program. This groundbreaking initiative works to develop a statewide community birth strategy, improve midwifery integration, strengthen systems for and quality of perinatal transfers between levels of care, and build a strong doula workforce. Ms. Herman is chair of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Midwifery.
Before EDC, Ms. Herman led a global health consultancy that supported clients such as the World Health Organization and Save the Children. She has provided midwifery care to individuals and families in community settings ranging from home-based and birth center care in the United States, to hospitals in Senegal, mobile clinics in Tanzania, and clinician-advised selfcare programs in Pakistan.
Ms. Herman holds an MPH from the Boston University School of Public Health and a BA from Tufts University. She earned her midwifery degree through the National College of Midwifery. She can often be found taking respite in nature and in the pages of fantasy novels.