The Midwives

 Sheryl Cronk, RM

I graduated from the McMaster Midwifery Education Program in 2003 and I’ve been working in the KW region as a midwife ever since.

I knew I wanted to be a midwife even before finishing high school. I entered formal midwifery education ten years later.
For me, growing up in a small town with a small library meant that one day I was looking for new books and new topics to read, and began reading everything in the childbirth section. A conviction that women should be treated respectfully in childbirth gradually became a desire to be a caregiver who could provide that respect at the same time as providing appropriate and safe care.

Those ten years between high school and midwifery education were filled with many experiences – being a nanny in Paris, France, obtaining a bachelor degree in math from the University of Guelph, working at a bilingual call centre, and a two-month solo ride across England on a horse. I assisted a professor of midwifery in Sydney, Australia with research, and learned from midwives in St. Petersburg, Russia how to deliver babies.

While in the formal midwifery education program, an elective placement offered the opportunity to spend six weeks in Lesotho, in southern Africa, and assist with prenatal care and delivering babies.

I believe that children are wondrous gifts, although I am not personally blessed in that way. I am thankful for many thing in my life including my close relationships with my midwifery partners, opportunities for knowledge and relaxation through reading, and the ability to embark on adventures without physical limitation, like a three week camping trip while sailing and rowing the length of the Rideau Canal. I love being a midwife. To be part of a woman’s journey toward motherhood is a great privilege.

I strongly believe in promoting and supporting physiologic labour, birth and breastfeeding. I have seen that babies will eventually learn to breastfeed. Mothers who are determined can feed their babies at the breast.

I take a particular delight in doing baby’s footprints sometime in the first week. Although they all cry at the time, I am sure they will eventually appreciate their cute baby footprints.

Sky Dasey, RM

I would like to tell you a little about my journey to providing midwifery care and Genesis Midwives. I was born at home, long before this was common, which led me to be curious about the choices women make about birthing. As I grew up on the Toronto Islands, I met a few midwives and many women who had midwifery care. The ability to provide health care in a way that respects the whole woman and her family appealed to me and I developed a keen interest in midwifery care. By the time I was in my teens, I knew this was what I wanted to do in my life.

Before entering the Midwifery Education Program, I worked in a variety of positions including cooking, childcare and as the administrator for a busy midwifery practice. I also traveled through Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and North America.
I began my midwifery training in 1996 at Ryerson University and had placements in Toronto and Hamilton. During the course of my education, I assisted with both home and hospital births and I gave birth to my son Oliver (with the help of midwives, of course!). Upon graduation in 2003, I joined St. Jacobs Midwives and I enjoyed my work with that wonderful practice immensely.

We founded Genesis Midwives in 2009 as our response to the ever increasing demand for accessible, high quality midwifery care. The birth of this new practice has been exciting and challenging and I am honoured to be a partner in this group. I find great joy in delivering midwifery care and I look forward to getting to know you and your family.

Minke Kraak, RM

I received my formal midwifery training at the University of Nottingham in England and I became a Registered Midwife in Ontario in 2004, after completing the International Midwifery Pre-registration Program. During my clinical placements, I spent considerable time assisting midwives within the community and also in a high risk obstetric unit. In my last year of training, I was fortunate enough to go on an elective placement to rural Uganda where I observed and participated in clinical care.

I love the relationships that I have built with families over the past few years in the Kitchener-Waterloo community. Being invited into the lives of families during this monumental time is a privilege and an honour! I am eager and excited to be expanding midwifery services in this area through the region’s newest practice – Genesis Midwives.
On a personal note, I was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to Ontario with my family when I was eight years old. I grew up on a farm near Tillsonburg, Ontario. I am privileged to have used midwives myself in December of 2009 when I gave birth to a little girl named Anakke.

 

Julie Laverdiere, RM

I have recently graduated from the Midwifery Education Programme at Laurentian University.

I was born and raised in the small town of Chelmsford which is located just outside of Sudbury, Ontario. Being from this small northern community, I did not have any exposure to the concept of Midwifery.

I graduated from high school not sure of where my post secondary education would take me. I had great interests in health, pregnancy, childbirth and children and therefore began with an undergrad in health promotion. During this time, I met a great friend who was in her first year of the Midwifery Program. I became intrigued by the concept of midwives and natural childbirth. After doing further research, I quickly realized that this was the profession for me. I was accepted into the French stream of Laurentian University’s Midwifery Education Program that fall and have never looked back. I have since then completed placements with an obstetrician, a lactation consultant, nurses and midwives. In fact, I spent the last year of my studies, here with Genesis Midwives.

I feel so grateful to be in a position to assist women during this empowering time in their lives. I look forward to continuing my journey with Genesis Midwives as a New Registrant and serving the women and families of this community.

 

 

Monica Weber, RM

I grew up on a farm near KW where I gained a love of our rural landscape and an appreciation of nature. My interest in midwifery and women’s health dawned upon me late in my teens, after years of girl-guiding, life guarding, and paddling. Knowing then that becoming a midwife would be a long term goal, I studied Women’s Studies and Anthropology at Laurentian University. A golden chance to focus my attention on issues related to family, gender studies and human sexuality as well hike and paddle on the side. I participated in my campus women’s centre’s organizing collective where I raised consciousness and funds for women’s health and gained life- long friends, who continually inspire me.

Following completion of my degree, I worked abroad and then with Community Living, where I supported many unique and memorable individuals. After a time, with much support from family and friends, I worked my way through McMaster University’s Midwifery program. I completed clinical placements in Cambridge, Woodstock, and KW. Since becoming a midwife, I have enjoyed helping moms and babies out across Elgin county and London ON.

In my time away from midwifery, I enjoy travel, including visiting family in both the Maritimes and BC. I am an intrepid knitter, and still love time outdoors; camping, gardening and music festivals.

I feel privileged that my practice as a midwife provides me a chance to observe women demonstrate incredible dignity and strength and to see families unfold. Though I have not personally been blessed with children, I find pregnancy and childbearing to be a fascinating transition and an important time to support women and their families.