Growing up in a household where education and healthcare were always present, it was almost a given that Julie Vignato would be drawn to both nursing and teaching. With a mother who was an English teacher and a grandmother who worked as a nurse, her path into these fields seemed only natural.
After graduating from high school, Vignato attended the University of Rochester in New York to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. During this time, she received a Reserve Officer Training Corps Scholarship, which took her to a naval medical center in Portsmouth, Virginia. Then, she was stationed in Puerto Rico and Italy, caring for patients from the "cradle to the grave."
"It's unique to not specialize in nursing," Vignato says. "I could have a laboring patient and then take care of a child with an asthma exacerbation, and then, an older gentleman with a prostate issue," Vignato further explains.
"So, I'd walk into all these different rooms and cross specialties, but I loved it."
After her experience in the military, she faced a career crossroads. "I had young children at the time, and I was thinking nurse practitioner or research," she explains. "But I went the research route because I wanted to spend some more time with my young children."
Vignato received her PhD from the University of San Diego College of Nursing, and after completing her degree she worked in higher education in southern California.
Her family's move to Iowa came unexpectedly, driven by her husband's job opportunity. Despite having no connections to the area, she embraced the new environment and became a post- doctoral fellow and lecturer at the University of Iowa College of Nursing.
Today, Vignato is an assistant professor at the college with a body of research that focuses on perinatal mental health and pain during pregnancy. She also enjoys sharing her love of nursing research with her undergraduate students.
"It takes somebody who likes to ask questions, who can critically think outside the box and challenge the status quo," Vignato advises. "And then it's going to take just a little bit of effort and perseverance to push through," she continues, "but once you do, it's so incredibly rewarding."
This year, Vignato is focusing on addressing maternal health disparities through the Community Doulas of Johnson County, a doula outreach program managed through the UI College of Nursing, Johnson County Public Health, and University of Iowa Health Care.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, a doula is a trained professional who provides emotional, physical, and educational support to expectant mothers during pregnancy, labor, and the post-birth period. Their goal is to ensure a safe, memorable, and empowering birthing experience.
Vignato explains that the program has trained ten Black and Latinx women from low-income, underserved communities in Johnson County—a population often overlooked.
She emphasizes the significance of addressing health disparities, noting that "the Black maternal mortality rate has been six times higher than that of white women, and for Latinas, it's two times higher."
Vignato hopes the program will significantly impact the community by preventing adverse outcomes for mothers and babies who might not otherwise receive this level of support. "If you can prevent bad outcomes for mom and baby in 50 women that normally would not have this kind of support, you may be able to prevent chronic conditions for both that may occur later in life," she says.
The program also encourages doulas to obtain business licenses and aims to gather data to support future legislation for Medicaid reimbursement of doula services in Iowa. "It's already happened in eight states and the District of Columbia," Vignato adds, mentioning ongoing efforts at both the state and national levels to expand this initiative.
In the long term, Vignato envisions the program expanding to other areas in the state with large, underserved populations, provided they can secure additional funding. She is passionate about empowering these communities to care for their moms and babies, praising the doulas' quiet confidence and dedication to their hard work.
"It is incredible. You need to come and meet our doulas and just see how great and wonderful they are at supporting others," she says.