Dr. Ana Maria Linares: Changing the Landscape of Maternal-Child Health

Originally a midwife from Chile, Ana Maria Linares, DNS, RN, IBCLC, associate professor, is a Fulbright Scholar who is changing the landscape of maternal-child health by developing nursing interventions to increase breastfeeding rates. In this country alone, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding is 25 percent, an incredibly low number by global standards. Dr. Linares’ work, which focuses particularly on Hispanic women, brings lifetime health benefits to children and their mothers. In one study, she increased exclusive breastfeeding by 50 percent.

Dr. Linares graduated in 1981 and received her degree in midwifery from the University of Chile. She earned a Doctor of Nursing Science degree in 2006 from the University of Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico. The focus of her dissertation research was to determine factors associated with prenatal care initiation in Mexican women. In 2009 she obtained her RN license in Kentucky. Dr. Linares previously worked as associate professor at the University of Tarapaca in Arica-Chile, where she served as a dean at the College of Midwifery and as a professor of obstetrics and neonatology. She also served as a breastfeeding consultant and specialist at the Health Service in Chile. Dr. Linares joined the faculty at the UK College of Nursing in 2009 as an assistant professor, teaching obstetric nursing in the undergraduate program. For her trajectory as a researcher, she has been accepted as a faculty associate in the Center for Research on Violence Against Women at UK.