Apprenticeship, formal direct-entry midwifery education in the USA and a Canadian nursing degree have all contributed to my midwifery background. Over the years I have had occasion to assist families giving birth in California and Illinois in the USA; Holland and Germany in Europe; and as well a variety of settings in BC. I've provided midwifery care in rural group practice in the Kootenays, in urban partnership in Vancouver and in community based programs working with pregnant adolescents. In life, my greatest lessons about birth have come from the families I've assisted, my three children, and the wisdom of my Appalachian midwife grandmother who helped the neighbour ladies.

Currently and prior to the beginning of regulated midwifery in 1998 I've been a part of the Midwifery Practice at BC Women's located in the Women's Health Centre. To me the connection between midwifery and women's health is a natural one. I have been committed to both since the beginning of my apprenticeship in 1974. Just recently I found myself extending a mutual congratulations to the mother of the first baby I ever caught on our 30th anniversary on March 9th.