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Joanna WebberJoanna is a registered midwife who has been working on the Saanich Peninsula for several years.
She graduated with a Midwifery degree from the University of British Columbia and after working alongside the midwives in Victoria, Langford, Nanaimo and Haida Gwaii. Joanna is delighted to be working in Saanich at Dandelion Midwifery, the community where she grew up. Joanna truly loves practicing midwifery and believes that providing holistic, culturally safe, patient-directed and evidence-based maternity care is an important step in increasing health and equality to our community. When Joanna has the time, she likes to participate in research and engage with movements specifically related to health and Aboriginal nationhood as well as being a preceptor for new student midwives. Before midwifery Joanna spent several years traveling, studying biology, feminism and indigenous studies while also volunteering and working with a variety of organizations that support improving health care access and reducing violence. Outside of her interest in midwifery, Joanna enjoys swimming in oceans, rivers and lakes as well as making jokes, relaxing and watching movies with her friends, family and two kiddos. |
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Carrie EllertCarrie Ellert grew up on a farm in southern Alberta near the Montana border, on the traditional territory of the Blackfoot Nations, Kainai (Kigh-a-nigh) and the Piikani (Pee-can-ee), as a European settler of German heritage.
Carrie enjoyed 14 years of Paediatric Intensive Care Nursing, prior to Midwifery, working in both education and leadership. After completing her bachelor of science in Nursing at the University of Calgary, she began nursing at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. She then moved to Australia, where she worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne for four years. In 2010 Carrie returned to Canada and calls the Saanich Peninsula, home. During her time on Vancouver Island, she volunteered with the First Aid Ski Patrol on Mount Washington. She has also volunteered with Operation Smile in both Africa and Honduras. In 2018 Carrie completed the Midwifery program at the University of British Columbia. She is a clinical preceptor at UBC, mentoring the next generation of midwives. As a guest lecturer at the University of Victoria, she is actively involved in teaching Nurse Practitioners. She was the former chair of the Midwives Association of BC, Gender and Sexuality Inclusivity committee, supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ families and midwives. Carrie is now the Division Head and Medical Lead of Midwifery for south Vancouver Island. She is perpetually inspired by supporting and growing community. To maintain inner balance Carrie can be found outdoors enjoying the land, paddling on the sea, or relaxing under the sky and in the sunshine, with her family. |
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Sarah StoneOver the past 15 years, initially as a doula and now as a midwife, Sarah has had opportunities to immerse herself in a powerful community of families, educators and healthcare practitioners. She has learned so much about the long-lasting positive impact of the respectful, supportive, and collaborative care that midwifery offers.
Sarah came into midwifery with an academic background in feminist theory and social justice. She has built her philosophy of care on the belief that every family, every pregnancy and every birth is unique, and that people become more capable of making their own decisions for their healthcare when we facilitate space for informed decision making – a process that includes considering both an individual’s lived experiences and personal values. Sarah believes that when we foster environments and relationships that make space for person-centered care, pregnant people come out of their pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience feeling empowered and more confident. For Sarah, becoming a parent with the support of midwives is something she will cherish forever. Sarah can confidently say, being encouraged to trust her instincts and learning to make informed choices in pregnancy helped to set the stage for years of parenting! When Sarah is not in midwife-mode, she is spending time with family and friends soaking up as much of the outdoors as she can. |
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Sarah-Jane (SJ) SteeleSarah-Jane (SJ) is a second generation settler with Irish, Scottish and Welsh grandparents. Her great great Grandmother was an Irish Settler Midwife in the Bays of Nova Scotia. SJ grew up in Dartmouth, NS- the traditional unceded lands of the Wabanaki and Mi’kma’ki people. She now lives on and benefits from the land of the Songhees and Lekwungen peoples.
SJ came to Midwifery from a prior degree and career as a Journalist. SJ has travelled and worked in more than 15 countries before anchoring here in 2011 and is a graduate of the Midwifery program through the faculty of Medicine at UBC. She started off the program a single mother to her daughter and ended it with a new partner and another baby. She has worked in this community as Doula, Pre and Postnatal Yoga Teacher, Medical Office Assistant for a busy Midwife practice, and managing her own Birthpool Business which she recently sold to devote her life to Midwifery…and get sleep when she can steal it. She does this work because of the question so well put by educator Penny Simkin “ How will they remember?” Evidence shows a person’s pregnancy and birth experience is etched into their brain, so the way it unfolds is important. SJ wants to hold space for that while providing safe, evidence based, trauma informed care. When she’s not working, SJ digs running, stretching, dancing in her kitchen like no one is watching, volunteering, camping with her children and fixing old things and making them new again. If she hadn’t become a Midwife she would have been a firefighter, guitar player in a cover band, or head of a soup kitchen. She is absolutely stoked to meet all of you and your babies. |
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Cleo SonierCleo is a dedicated medical office assistant with over six years of experience managing a chiropractic practice in Vancouver. Recently, her family made the heartfelt decision to move to the Island to be closer to her family. Cleo is also a passionate and experienced doula who specializes in twin support as she is a twin mom herself. She has supported numerous families on the mainland through their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey; educating them on the importance of advocacy, choice and data-based care throughout. Her love for maternity care and babies is deeply rooted in her lifelong dream of starting a family and her upbringing in a close knit sisterhood.
She cherishes the connection to nature and is thrilled to return to a similar environment here on Vancouver Island. She values the opportunity to provide her kids with a childhood that is enriched by the outdoors, where they can learn and explore while getting their hands and toes into the earth. Cleo and her family enjoy gardening and growing their own produce and flowers. Her husband is a talented chef who complements this lifestyle by catering for the families Cleo supports, helping them navigate the postpartum days with nourishing meals. When Cleo is not in the office you can find her close to the ocean, or in her backyard enjoying the beautiful sounds of nature. For doula support, please visit Cleo’s website here: www.labourhooddoula.com |
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Keely KastrukoffKeely became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2010. She is also a registered nurse, having graduated from the University of British Columbia with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2003.
Keely continues to enjoy supporting families to welcome their infants home. There is nothing more special than when a parent is able to comfortably latch and feed their infant for the first time. Though breastfeeding and chest feeding is natural, it is not always easy, and Keely feels honoured to assist families to be able to feed their infants to the best of their abilities. As a nurse, Keely worked in southern BC and northern AB, but is now very pleased to live with her husband and two adolescents on the traditional lands of the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. In her free time she enjoys paddle boarding in Brentwood Bay, hiking the trails on the Peninsula and sharing meals with her family. To book an appointment with Keely please visit her website at https://sunflowerlactation.janeapp.com/ |
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Kayla is a passionate doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, registered acupuncturist, and medical herbalist, and focuses her practice on women’s health. A lifelong interest in holistic healing led her to complete a variety of trainings in aromatherapy, massage, reiki, yoga, and birth and postpartum doula work before graduating from Pacific Rim College where she now teaches gynecology and obstetrics, various other acupuncture and herbal medicine classes, and supervises student clinics.
A dedicated yoga practice over the past decade led her to India twice to immerse herself in this ancient spiritual tradition. On her first trip she completed a yoga teacher training and returned a year later and began teaching yoga and offering free acupuncture services at a charitable hospital through the ashram she was living at. This was rooted in her dream of making medicine accessible to all and she continues to offer sliding scale options if financial restrictions are a barrier to treatment. It’s a dream come true for her to be working alongside midwives and she is thrilled to be practicing out of Dandelion Midwifery. Forever inspired by the power of women’s bodies and the healing that traditional Chinese medicine offers in this field, she continues to focus her continuing education studies on gynecology and obstetrics. To book an appointment with Kayla please visit her website at www.thehealinghearth.ca |
Shea LongShea is our featured Artist. Dandelion Midwifery is proud to display beautiful birth photography by Coastal Lifestyle Photography
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