About Sara Grundle, RM

My path to midwifery began in January of 2003 when my nephew was born. My sister had hired a doula for his birth. I was extremely intrigued by the doula’s role, and thus began the process of becoming one. Upon attending my first couple of births, I knew that my calling was to become a midwife. While applying to college to complete prerequisites for midwifery school, I attended births with my doula practice as well as volunteered for an at-risk youth program.

 Before graduating from Seattle Midwifery School (which recently merged with Bastyr University) I attended births in Vancouver, Seattle, Eastern Washington, and Vanuatu (a chain of islands in the South Pacific). My experience delivering babies in Vanuatu was monumental and I will forever cherish the wonderful women and babies that I worked with there. It was instrumental in my gaining perspective on how different and valuable healthcare practices are around the world.

 After graduating, I moved back to my hometown of Vancouver BC, for several months to spend time with my family. I moved to Calgary in 2010 to work with Aurora and pursue my dream of helping women and babies have the best birth experience possible. I love working with the women of Aurora Midwifery and I can’t wait to get to be a part of what I hope will be one of the best days of your lives.

 

About Anne-Marie Brash, RM

I have had quite a journey to get to where I am today, and that is not only considering the fact that I have just moved to Calgary from Scotland! My career since leaving school many moons ago has taken a few different paths. I was originally a Home Economist and worked in food retailing and in health settings for 14 years. Most recently I worked with young families and other health professionals giving food and nutrition advice, concentrating mainly on breastfeeding and weaning in order to develop healthy eating habits and to improve long-term health outcomes.

I really only considered Midwifery after the birth of my second child. The experience I had through my pregnancy was amazing, and I enjoyed a relationship with my midwife, who worked hard to give the care I needed and to make the pregnancy unique to myself and my husband. I was very fortunate to have the same midwife for my next two pregnancies, and when I approached her and asked for a home birth (which is quite unusual in Scotland) I was thrilled when she agreed. The same midwife was on call the night I went into labor, and I went on to deliver my son at home with someone I trusted and who I considered to be a friend present.

In being a midwife, I want to give other women the same experience that I had. It is such a fulfilling job…but then I don’t really see it as a job. To me it is a privilege to be involved and I look forward to the opportunity to build a trusting relationship with a family and to be a part of one of the most important life changing events that they will go through. I am really excited about working with the other midwives from Aurora Midwifery and meeting and making friends with the families that want to make choices during their pregnancy.

 

About Nicole Dakin, BSc, RM

Hello. My name is Nicole Dakin and I look forward to meeting you and those important to you.

There are many reasons why I am passionate about midwifery. After years of working in science and childcare, midwifery gives me the opportunity to apply my interests towards supporting women and their families. Children are wonderful sparks and I appreciate that the work I do helps to welcome them safely into the world. Midwives get to celebrate families in their many shapes and forms on a daily basis, and this I love.

My background is in science, childcare, and women's health. I am passionate about women's health promotion, and I discovered this while completing a Biology degree at the University of Calgary. During this time I also volunteered with newborns at the Alberta Children's Hospital, and with young women at a Sexual Health Clinic. Following a few years of work and travel I started my doula training and I decided to become a midwife.

I studied midwifery in New Zealand, a country where midwives have been caring for generations of women. I was trained to appreciate evidence-based care and to be an advocate for women's choices. I supported women to birth in both home and hospital settings during my training. During this time I had a wonderful job as a Maternity Support Worker, mostly helping women with breastfeeding. After I graduated as a midwife I worked in a hospital where I cared for many women with both normal and high-risk pregnancies. I also had the pleasure of working with women from many different cultures and backgrounds. Most recently I have returned from volunteering in the Pacific on the central island of Vanuatu. Some of my other travels have taken me around Asia, into Africa and Europe, and now I am enjoying rediscovering Canada.

I love that in midwifery I get to focus on helping women meet their own goals. I look forward to finding out what is important to you. Also I appreciate working with such an enthusiastic team of midwives. The Aurora clinic is a beautiful space, and I look forward to meeting you there.