Skip to content
University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus CU Denver | CU Anschutz
  • Webmail
  • UCD Access
  • Canvas
  • Quick Links
 
 

Tools & Resources

  • Campus Directory
  • A-Z Index
  • Human Resources
  • University Policies
  • Auraria Library
  • Strauss Health Sciences Library

Schools & Colleges

CU Denver

  • College of Architecture and Planning
  • College of Arts & Media
  • Business School
  • School of Education & Human Development
  • College of Engineering, Design and Computing
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • School of Public Affairs

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

  • School of Dental Medicine
  • Graduate School
  • School of Medicine
  • College of Nursing
  • Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Colorado School of Public Health

CU Campuses

  • CU Anschutz Medical Campus
  • CU Boulder
  • CU Colorado Springs
  • CU Denver
  • CU Online
  • CU System

Announcement: CU Denver is Celebrating 50 Years

Whether you’re an alumnus, current student, member of the faculty and staff, donor, or neighbor, you’re a valuable part of the CU Denver community. Help us celebrate the last 50 years and a future that works for all.

Learn More

International Newsroom

Office of International Affairs

Explore International

  • Home
  • Study Here
  • Work Here
  • Go Abroad
    • Travel Guidance & Policy
    • Travel Alerts, Notices, & Advisories
  • Resources
    • Help & Support Desk
    • International Newsroom
    • Publications & Media
    • Fulbright Program
    • International Alumni
  • Partners
    • International College Beijing
    • Memorandums of Understanding
  • About OIA
    • Contact & Address Information
    • Appointments
    • Staff
University Quick Links

    Donate to the International Student Emergency Fund

    CU Denver Day of Giving is April 6!

    CU Denver is committed to making education work for all; this includes international students who are abruptly faced with a financial crisis. Unexpected disasters at home – massive flooding, earthquakes, medical emergencies, losses in family incomes -- have affected more than one of the university’s international students.

    Donate Today
    .j-allow-row-background', .j-apply-a-background5434bfa6-993a-4e00-b1a6-de6fa59184ce, j-t-bg-widget-CU_text-gold-bg-none, "background-image", "url('')

    View All News & Stories

    More Recent News & Stories

    Fulbright Scholar in South Africa

    MARIE HASTINGS-TOLSMA STUDIES INDIGENOUS HERBS AND PREGNANCY

    Oct 1, 2012
    Marie Hastings-Tolsma

    Marie Hastings-Tolsma, PhD, CNM

    by Amy Vaerewyck

    Inside the dusty little shop, she strolls by shelves packed with roots, bark and plant leaves. Behind the counter, she can see rows and rows of tiny plastic bottles filled with different-colored powders. And from the ceiling hang parts of every animal she can imagine—ostrich heads, horse legs, crocodile tails.

    Marie Hastings-Tolsma, PhD, CNM, is far from Iowa, where she grew up on a farm. She is far from Colorado, where she conducts research and teaches nurse midwifery. She is in a traditional healer’s shop in Johannesburg, South Africa, where, on a Fulbright Scholarship, she is studying the use of indigenous herbs during pregnancy and birth.

    Becoming a Fulbright Scholar

    “I was so excited but in total disbelief that I had been selected for a Fulbright Award,” Hastings-Tolsma said. “[The award] is merit-based and highly competitive. Luckily, my expertise and scholarship were a good fit with South Africa and the University of Johannesburg.”

    She’s using the award to spend this academic year in South Africa, collaborating with a midwifery researcher at the University of Johannesburg to study patients, traditional birth attendants and midwives throughout South Africa’s nine provinces. She wants to find out which herbs are used most frequently and how those herbs are used. She’ll then send samples of the most frequently used herbs back to the University of Colorado for analysis and comparison with herbs used by women in the U.S.

    Touching Down in Jo’burg

    Hastings-Tolsma had never before been on the African continent. On Aug. 2, the newly minted Fulbright Scholar arrived at Tambo International Airport, which she describes as “huge, modern and beautiful.” It wasn’t long before she realized that not all of South Africa is modern and beautiful.

    “In many respects, Johannesburg seems like any large U.S. city, but crime here is high, as is unemployment,” she said. She summed up the feel of most residential areas as “gated and guarded,” with 8- to 12-foot high walls, razor wire, electric fencing and security guards.

    She witnessed, first-hand, the great disparity of wealth distribution in the country when she visited the Nyanga slum outside Cape Town, where approximately 3 million people live in extreme poverty.

    “I have seen pictures of such slums but to see it up close left me speechless,” she said. “There are also significant issues related to health care access and coverage. The role midwives play in meeting these health challenges is terribly important.”

    Working for Safe Deliveries

    Although many people in South Africa use medicinal plants along with prescription medications, some of the herbs commonly used by pregnant women there are illegal, Hastings-Tolsma said. This makes her research more difficult.

    “There is reluctance by many to talk about [herb] use,” she said. “In addition, midwives here do not have prescriptive authority, so they are very anxious about admitting use. Further complicating the picture is the belief by some providers and patients that use of herbs is related to black magic.”

    Hastings-Tolsma perseveres because of the potential impact her research could have for troublesome—and expensive—pregnancy issues universally, including in the U.S. What she discovers about herbs might help treat both preterm labor and overdue delivery.

    REAL TALK:

    “Identification of the herbs that have been used for many years by a large community of women has the potential to increase understanding of how [labor] processes are triggered in humans—a process that to date has remained elusive.” – Marie Hastings-Tolsma, PhD, CNM

    Missing Nursing Colleagues

    With a research end date of June 30, 2013, Hastings-Tolsma’s work in South Africa is only just beginning. Despite her passion for her work, she’s already begun to miss a few things back home.

    “Access to U.S. news and consistent Internet access are top on my list,” she said, “along with the convenience of jumping in the car to run where I want to go. Since I do not have a car, I now walk 4-8 miles each day.”

    And of course, there are the people she misses.

    “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I miss collaborating with research colleagues at CU Anschutz,” she said, “and working with faculty in the Division of Women, Children & Family Health in the College of Nursing, whose support has made all of this possible.”

    “Identification of the herbs that have been used for many years by a large community of women has the potential to increase understanding of how [labor] processes are triggered in humans—a process that to date has remained elusive.” – Marie Hastings-Tolsma, PhD, CNM

    Published: Oct. 1, 2012

    Contact: stories@ucdenver.edu

    Categories: Global Education | Study Abroad Office of International Affairs | Tags: Fulbright Scholarship

    View All News & Stories

    Media

    Discover CU Denver (Undergraduates)

    Discover CU Denver (Undergraduate)

    Colorado's Urban Public Research University

    View & Download

    International College Beijing

    See Description
    Published Jul 26, 2012
    ICB is a joint education program between the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) in Denver, Colorado, USA, and China Agricultural University (CAU) in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This partnership, formed in 1994, was one of the first of its kind approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education. ICB is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in the U.S. and maintains a reputation as a challenging, robust academic program.

    Study Abroad

    See Description
    Published Oct 19, 2016
    The CU Denver Office of Global Education is committed to providing every University of Colorado Denver student a wide range of engaging and affordable international study, research and clinical opportunities to help you globalize your academic and professional future.

    Discover More


    downtown
     

    Study Here

    masks-two-female-students
     

    Work Here

    goabroad-student-asia-mobile
     

    Go Abroad

    resources
     

    Resources

    icb-partners
     

    Partners

    campus-sunburst
     

    About OIA

    Office of International Affairs

    CU Denver

    Lawrence Street Center

    1380 Lawrence Street

    Denver, CO 80204


    CU Anschutz

    Fitzsimons Building

    13001 East 17th Place

    Ground Floor: STE. EG305, EG305A, and EG306

    Aurora, CO 80045


    • Contact Us
    • Website Feedback
    • CU System
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Accessibility
    • Accreditation
    • Employment
    • Give Now
     

    © 2023 The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. All rights reserved.

    Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. All trademarks are registered property of the University. Used by permission only.

    CMS Login

    Webmail

    UCD Access

    Canvas

    Opens in a new window Opens document in a new window