EP1: The History of FTNN
The History of FTNN.
In 2015, one nurse saw a gap no one else was filling — and decided to do something about it. Ten years later, the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network has grown from 25 founding members to nearly 440. Founder Katie Francis sits with host Kris Rimbos to trace how it started, what almost stopped it, and where it's going next.
The episode in five numbers
Meet the voices
Tap either card to flip for a full bio.
Host
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Kris Rimbos, RN
Host of The Fetal Frontline and a long-standing FTNN board member. Kris helped build FTNN's web presence and social channels, chaired the conference committee, and spent her career coordinating fetal care at a major US fetal center.
She and Katie have collaborated since FTNN's earliest board — most notably on the core competencies now rolling out across US and Canadian fetal programs.
Guest · Founder
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Katie Francis, RN
Katie trained in the NICU, then as a neonatal and pediatric transport nurse, before stepping into the brand-new role of fetal nurse coordinator in 2009 and helping launch her hospital's fetal surgery program from scratch.
In 2015 she founded FTNN — her proudest professional accomplishment. In 2024 she received the inaugural Lori J. Howell Excellence in Fetal Nursing Award.
What makes fetal nursing unlike any other specialty
Before the history of FTNN, some grounding. Four truths about the field that shape everything the network was built to support.
Two lives. One care plan.
Katie puts it simply: "You're really, truly caring for two patients — which is unique. I don't know that there's any other nursing field where you're caring for two patients at once." That single fact drove FTNN's founding and still shapes how the network supports its members today.
Chapter guide
Eleven chapters, each with a pull-quote and the three things worth walking away with. Tap "Open deep dive" to unpack the context — who NAFNet is, what SBAR means, why 1968 matters.
A 17-year arc — from one nurse to a national network
Eleven milestones spanning 17 years. Katie's path starts in 2009 — years before FTNN existed.
The people who shaped FTNN
Katie is careful not to name too many contributors — she worries she'll leave someone out. But three people are named in this episode who made the network possible at its birth. Tap any card for context.
Peer support in action
Four real ways the network shows up — in admin meetings, in hotel lobbies, in moments of moral fatigue, and in life outside the fetal center.
When Katie needs to convince her administration of something — a staffing ratio, a new piece of equipment, a process change — she doesn't walk in alone.
One of Katie's proudest moments is hearing that a nurse in California went to visit another center to learn what they needed at home.
A friend of Katie's told her, "My nurses are having some moral distress right now." Katie's response: so are ours.
The network Katie built wasn't only about fetal care. She shares one story that nearly didn't make it into the episode.
Katie's playbook — seven lessons from ten years
"Check your ego at the door."
The single principle Katie returns to the most. Something she started becomes something everyone owns. When someone changes it in a way she wouldn't have, she asks herself: is this about my ego, or what's good for the network?
Coming home at conference
Katie calls the annual FTNN Conference her self-care. "It feels like coming home." Hugs, camaraderie, friendships maintained over text through the year. And if you're new? "Come find me and I'll be your buddy for the day."
What's next for FTNN
Four fronts Katie says the network is working toward — some near-term, some generational.
The biggest milestone yet to accomplish. Katie holds her own neonatal nurse certification. Fetal nursing doesn't have one — yet.
Criteria FTNN is assembling
- A body of peer-reviewed research in fetal nursing care
- Published FTNN core competencies (rolled out 2024 ✓)
- Agreed-upon role definitions and FTE calculations
- Conversations with certifying bodies already underway
A bigger voice in national policy development — so the people who care for these patients are in the room when decisions affecting them get made.
Katie read an article the morning of this interview about precision medicine and the genetic era of fetal medicine.
Not everybody has the same access to fetal intervention. FTNN is investing in research on the whole pregnant patient — emotional wellbeing, equity, the pieces that don't show up in a basic-science trial.
The next ten years
Precision medicine, certification, advocacy, equity — Katie is clear about one thing: FTNN will keep showing up for the nurses showing up for families. "Every decision still comes back to excellent care for pregnant women and their unborn babies."
Thanks for listening.
If this episode moved you, share it with a colleague. Subscribe so you don't miss Episode 2. And if you're at the next FTNN conference, come find Katie — she promised she'd be your buddy for the day.
Katie Francis, RN
Katie's career path is a pattern the episode keeps coming back to — the right preparation found her before she knew the destination existed.
Before FTNN
- NICU nurse
- Neonatal & pediatric transport nurse
- Pediatric ER (briefly, right out of training)
- 2009 — steps into the brand-new fetal nurse coordinator role at her children's hospital
Why she founded FTNN
Starting a fetal program alone from 2009 to 2015, Katie realized that every center was building near-identical processes in parallel. "Why are we all recreating the wheel?" A handful of conversations later — with Jody Farrell, Lori Howell, and Dr. Bill Polzin — she had her answer and her first meeting date.
The Howell Award
In 2024, Katie received the inaugural Lori J. Howell Excellence in Fetal Nursing Award — named for the CHOP pioneer who blessed FTNN at its start.
Jody Farrell
Jody Farrell was one of the earliest fetal nurse coordinators in the United States, at the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center — widely regarded as the birthplace of fetal surgery in North America.
When Katie first floated the idea of FTNN, Jody was one of the two pioneering coordinators whose approval she sought out. Jody's response was an unreserved yes — and she delivered the first educational session at FTNN's inaugural meeting, held in conjunction with NAFNet.
She is retired now, but her fingerprints are all over the network's founding DNA: generosity of time, willingness to share the hardest parts of the work, zero gatekeeping.
Lori Howell
Lori Howell was at the start of fetal intervention at CHOP, helping build what would become one of the world's highest-volume fetal therapy programs.
When Katie approached her with the FTNN idea, Lori was, like Jody, immediately and unreservedly supportive. Her blessing carried enormous weight — if Jody and Lori said yes, the field's two most established centers were saying yes.
Lori has since passed away. In 2024, FTNN established the Lori J. Howell Excellence in Fetal Nursing Award in her name. Katie received it as its inaugural recipient — a symmetry the episode pauses on.
Dr. William "Bill" Polzin, MD
Dr. Bill Polzin was a founder of NAFNet — the North American Fetal Therapy Network, the physician counterpart to FTNN. He has since passed away.
At a conference, Polzin pulled Katie aside and told her: "This is important. We realize we are doing similar work, but we also realize the need for this nursing group. NAFNet will help you get this off the ground."
That endorsement mattered. FTNN's inaugural meeting was held in conjunction with NAFNet's — a deliberate choice that signaled from day one that the nursing network had an official, collaborative seat at the table alongside the physician network.
Kris Rimbos, RN
Kris is a long-serving FTNN board member and former fetal nurse coordinator. Katie credits her with a game-changing contribution to the network — building FTNN's web presence and social media footprint (including TikTok), which has dramatically broadened the network's reach.
She has chaired the conference committee and was instrumental in shaping the FTNN core competencies — the nursing training standards now rolling out across US and Canadian fetal centers.
As host of The Fetal Frontline, she is the interviewer throughout the FTNN podcast's inaugural season.
Chapter
How to subscribe
The FTNN Podcast publishes episodes roughly every month. You can subscribe wherever you listen:
- Apple Podcasts — search "The Fetal Frontline"
- Spotify — search "Fetal Therapy Nurse Network"
- Amazon Music & YouTube — direct RSS feed coming soon
Reviews genuinely help others discover the show — if this episode resonated, leave one. And if you'd like to suggest a future guest or topic, reach out via the FTNN website.
