About Birth Partnership
Our Clinic
Our clinic is located in the lovely residential community of View Royal. Just off Helmken Road. The #14 Bus stops at the top of the road.
We schedule appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays during regular business hours. Appointments can be made in person, or by phone. Your midwife will assist you in determining when you should be seen.
Appointments will last between 30 – 45 minutes and clients are welcome to bring partners, support people and/or their children.
Typically you will have appointments every 4-5 weeks until your 27th week of pregnancy, 2-3 weeks between your 27th and 37th, and then once a week until your baby is born.
After the birth, I will come to your home in the immediate postpartum period, usually seeing you at least three times in the first week after the baby is born. Mothers and their babies will return to the clinic for 3 postpartum visits until the baby is 6 weeks old.
Of special note...
There are times when appointments may be cancelled on short notice, usually when a midwife has been called away to a birth. Every effort will be made to contact you beforehand, but we request your patience and understanding when this is not possible.
As well, we respect your time and understand that we all live busy lives, we will do our best to run clinic on time, but please appreciate that if we are running late it is because someone needed some extra attention that day.
Our Name
At Birth Partnership, we work with you,as a team, sharing a common philosophy of midwifery care, supporting and encouraging each other's individual beliefs and values.
We offer a primary care model, to offer families personalized care, continuity and choices. The name "Birth Partnership" speaks to the philosophy of care in which we believe. We see our relationship as one of partnership with the woman, her family and each other. A healthy relationship is egalitarian, and is based on mutual respect, trust and shared responsibility.
Thank all of you who have chosen Birth Partnership as your caregivers. It is an honor and a privilege to be your midwives and we look forward to a positive birth experience with each and every one of you!
As a part of Birth Partnership Midwives in Calgary for 15 years, I would like to acknowledge this practice that has been an intregal part of Alberta midwifery since 1996. Particularily, Patty Lenstra who has been my mentor, my midwifery partner as well as my business partner and most importantly, my friend.
My decision to leave Calgary was a hard one. I leave behind a wonderful and supportive practice full of passionate and amazing midwives and friends. The beauty of Victoria and the pull of family was a call I felt it was time to answer.
My Birth Partnership Calgary family visiting Victoria in October 2016 for the Canadian Association of Midwives annual conference.
The Birth of Fire
Justina Grado
the night silence is broken with the first moan childbirth, and a candle is lit.
a small ember begins to burn, illuminating the midwife's face, as calm as the eye of the storm.
the candle lends its light to another, losing nothing of itself, and soon the entire house is ablaze with the primal dance of light; scents of patchouli and rich copper fill the air with the heat of fire and sacrifice and all things holy.
she lays her tools around her, a sacred talisman of protection for mother and imminent child; fresh water, olive oil, sage, coloured wool and knitting needles - the tools of her trade serve only as a distraction from the fire as the woman labours on.
each log of the house now is sparkling with flames; red, orange and black smoke rising. The midwife does not seem to notice; she removes her sweater and rolls up her sleeves - there is work to be done.
the woman whimpers for comfort and she is immediately at her side, wiping her brow, offering her words and prayers and the strength of all the generations of women that came before her.
a coy flame licks the midwife's arms, a tease, a nuisance, and she just brushes it away.
an army of wildfire creeps its way up the bed posts, licking hungrily at the pine, eager to envelope and devour; the energy in the room morphs from electric to expectant - the midwife breathes deeply, inhaling the heady smell of musk and opens her hands to receive.
soon her feet are on fire, and she leans forward to lay hands on hands, breathing with the mother's breath, feeling her surges, her ebb and flow.
the fire rises, reaching for her hips like an eagle clawing at its prey, talons spread and vicious - but the midwife forges on, focused only not he emerging pearl and the shell that houses it.
her back is now a fiery sunset of crimson and gold, smouldering coals rippling with the movement of her shoulders as she coaxes and guides; sweat and pride stream down her neck, this is divine work, a labour of love.
a cry emerges, tripling in vibration, and every single being in the vast universe trembles in reverence; the last gnarled hands of the inferno surround the midwife, stroking and tugging at her hair. And as if she were a timid girl being caressed by her lover, she smiles and closes her eyes in satisfaction; this is her calling- to stand in the fire and burn so that others may be thawed.
Acknowledgement to Deb Little and Midwifery Services Victoria
Deb became a midwife in Scotland after working as an obstetrical nurse where she realized the many gaps in the conventional maternity care system in Canada. When she returned from Scotland, Deb began working toward seeing midwifery care become a reality for women in her home of Canada.
She was one of the founding board members of the College of Midwives of BC in 1995. Deb had been a practicing midwife since 1979. She was one of the originators of the Grace Hospital Midwifery Pilot Project in Vancouver in 1983 and later the director of the program. Until 1998 she was the Midwifery Department Head at BC Women's Health Centre, Vancouver.
Deb was also Co-Head of the Department of Midwifery here on Vancouver Island where she took a keen interest in midwifery education and health promotion. In 2015 Deb made the decision to retire from active practice. I know that many families from Victoria are grateful to have experienced her calm and loving guidance.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the support and faith Deb has shown me in my move to Victoria.
At Birth Partnership Victoria we support the rights of the LGBT community. Please bear with us as we work to ensure the language used on this website and in our supporting practice documents are gender inclusive.
Canadian Association of Midwives Statement on Gender Inclusivity & Human Rights