Heather hails from Regina, Saskatchewan where her passion for maternity care was ignited after visiting a friend with her new baby. She began her nursing education in 1999, qualifying for the Accelerated Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan. She graduated in 2002 and began working in a labour and delivery unit. She also spent one year working full time in a tertiary level NICU.
It was Heather’s zest for learning, and a sense that she needed a change, that brought her to Edmonton to pursue her Masters in Nursing at the University of Alberta. Heather had developed a passion for global maternal health and had the unique opportunity to conduct her thesis research in Ghana, Africa, studying community support for childbearing women. Through her studies, Heather learned more about midwifery and a new fire was lit.
In 2011, Heather was accepted to Laurentian University’s Midwifery Education Program. She benefited enormously from the wonderful women in South Western Ontario who allowed her to be involved in their care and, of course, from the midwives whose experience and confidence in birth allowed her to learn, grow, and truly become a midwife.
Heather completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences Degree in Midwifery, Cum Laude, in the spring of 2013 and returned to Edmonton to begin her new career at JoySring Midwifery. Working alongside childbearing women and their families through JoySpring was an absolute pleasure.
After the passing of Noreen Walker in the spring of 2017, Heather was compelled to help Passages Midwifery continue to provide care to the thousands of families who Noreen had dedicated her life to. It is an honour for Heather to be walking in the footsteps laid by such an inspiring and strong woman.
When not busy catching babies, Heather has contributed to provincial midwifery as Vice President of the Alberta Association of Midwives, midwife-member of the MoreOB Core Team at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, and data collection for a study led by Dr. Beverly O’Brien on water immersion in labour and birth. Once in a while spare time and adventure find a happy mix, providing Heather with important opportunities to present at such events as the International Confederation of Midwives Conference in Prague, Czechoslovakia (June 2014), the CAPWHN Conference in Regina (2014), and the POGO Conference in Regina (2016). Heather participates as a member of the Provincial Midwifery Executive Committee for Alberta Health Services and in September 2016, she assumed the role of Clinical Midwifery Director for the Edmonton, Central, and North Zone.
Heather enjoys traveling, her two rambunctious kitties, relaxing with family and friends, preparing great meals, and crocheting beautiful newborn hats for the sweet little babies she helps to welcome into the world.
pronouns: she/ her
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