Rondi started her career in 1977 as a direct-entry midwife in East Lansing, Michigan, caring for families from their first prenatal visit right through to the postpartum weeks.

From there, she worked as a maternity nurse on the Navajo and Hopi reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, before spending a decade running a full-scope midwifery practice in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where most of her clients were Old Order Amish families.

Her work soon took her far beyond the US. With Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), she supported hospital maternity wards and outpatient clinics in Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Assam, India, often serving communities with very limited access to care. Between postings, she led the midwifery service at North Shore Medical Center in Salem, Massachusetts, caring for low-income families north of Boston.

Rondi then moved into midwifery education, helping New York University launch a new BSc midwifery program in Rwanda. She taught students directly while mentoring faculty and helping design the curriculum.

Over nearly eight years with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), she worked as a Midwifery Specialist in Bangladesh and with the East and Southern Africa Regional Office. In 2023, she coordinated sexual and reproductive health services in Aleppo, Syria, as part of the earthquake response. She still facilitates UNFPA's Sexual and Reproductive Health in Emergencies course.

Today, Rondi is the Senior RMNCH Advisor at Project HOPE in Washington, DC, where she helps strengthen and expand sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health programs around the world, in both humanitarian and development settings.

Education

• BSN in Nursing, Michigan State University
• MS in Midwifery, University of Utah
• PhD in Public Health, Lancaster University

Work experience

• Senior RMNCH Advisor, Project HOPE, Washington, DC (2023–present)
• Facilitator, UNFPA Sexual and Reproductive Health in Emergencies course (2023–present)
• Sexual and Reproductive Health Coordinator, UNFPA, Aleppo, Syria (2023)
• Midwifery Specialist, UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, South Africa (2021–2022)
• Midwifery Specialist, UNFPA, Bangladesh (2015–2022)
• Midwifery Educator, New York University, Rwanda (2013–2015)
• SRMNH Lead, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Assam, India (2006–2007)
• SRMNH Lead, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Sierra Leone (2005–2006)
• Director of Midwifery, North Shore Medical Center, Salem, Massachusetts (2000–2005)
• SRMNH Lead, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Galkayo, Somalia (1999–2000)
• Private Practice Midwife, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (1989–1999)
• Maternity Nurse, Indian Health Service, Tuba City, Arizona (1985–1987)
• Direct-Entry Midwife, Private Practice, East Lansing, Michigan (1977–1985)

Publications

• Healthcare provider perceptions of early Vayu bubble CPAP implementation in Ghana: a mixed-methods study within a national neonatal rollout (2026)
• The introduction of group antenatal care in northern Nigeria: an implementation research study analysing changes in service use (2026)
• Protocol for the Implementation of a Targeted Maternal and Newborn Service Delivery Bundle in Sierra Leone (2026)
• Midwifery Mentorship in Bangladesh, in Global Midwifery Mentorship: Building Capacity Through Connection (2025)
• Challenges and opportunities of English as the medium of instruction in diploma midwifery programs in Bangladesh: a mixed-methods study (2024)
• Midwife-led pandemic telemedicine services for maternal health and gender-based violence screening in Bangladesh: an implementation research case study (2023)
• Responding to humanitarian crises: midwifery care in Bangladesh (2023)
• Health system strengthening through professional midwives in Bangladesh: best practices, challenges, and successes (2023)
• Implementing midwifery services in public tertiary medical college hospitals in Bangladesh: a longitudinal study (2023)
• Strengthening quality in sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn health systems in low- and middle-income countries through midwives and facility mentoring: an integrative … (2023)
• An evaluation of the introduction of telehealth for remote antenatal and postnatal contacts in Bangladesh and Lao People's Democratic Republic during the COVID-19 pandemic (2023)
• The impact of introducing midwives and also mentoring on the quality of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services in low- and middle-income … (2023)
• Global complacency with perpetuation of gender oppression in maternity care pride and gender transformation (2023)
• Reducing maternal mortality through identifying unmet need for postpartum hemorrhage stabilization in rural emergency obstetric care facilities: Development and testing of a … (2023)
• Role of district SRHR officer and cervical cancer field trainer in improvement of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women in low- and middle-income countries: A … (2023)
• The impact of professional midwives and mentoring on the quality and availability of maternity care in government sub-district hospitals in Bangladesh: a mixed-methods … (2022)
• Improving the quality of maternity care through the introduction of professional midwives and mentoring in selected sub-district hospitals in Bangladesh: a mixed method study … (2022)
• The Impact and Experience of Introducing Professional Midwives into Rural Government Hospitals in Bangladesh, a Mixed-Methods Study (PhD thesis, 2022)
• Mentorship program and labour room protocol challenge to reduce the PPH, eclampsia, and CSR in Bangladesh, 2 years' experience (2019)
• Timely referral saves the lives of mothers and newborns: Midwifery led continuum of care in marginalized teagarden communities – A qualitative case study in Bangladesh (2018)
• Human resources for health (HRH) midwives mentoring program and episiotomy rates at Muhima Hospital, Rwanda: a retrospective cross-sectional study (2017)
• A Simple Clinical Guide for Health Care Students to Assess and Plan for Care at Two Teaching Hospitals in Kigali, Rwanda (2015)
• Making Evidence Based Changes on the Labor Ward of Muhima Hospital: Staff Teaching Staff (2015)
• Implementing Sustainable International Accepted Trainings at Muhima Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda (2015)
• The cost-effectiveness of home birth (1999)
• Outcomes of 11,788 planned home births attended by certified nurse-midwives: a retrospective descriptive study (1995)
• A descriptive analysis of home births attended by CNMs in two nurse-midwifery services (1991)
• A descriptive analysis of two home birth services attended by certified nurse-midwives in Texas (1990)