Guelph Midwives, Professional Midwifery Practice

Who Are We?

Registered Midwives are governed by the College of Midwives of Ontario. We are certified in Adult CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation, and we have privileges at Guelph General Hospital and Groves Memorial Community Hospital. Our practice standards and protocols are in accordance with all formal requirements. We would be pleased to refer you to clients we have worked with if you would like references.

Basak Ardalani graduated with a B.Sc. in Midwifery from the Department of Medicine at Azad University in Tehran, Iran in 1990. Following two years of supervised practice, she received both her Midwifery License and Midwifery Clinic Permit in 1992. She practiced as a professional midwife in hospitals and homes at over 400 deliveries from 1990 to 1998. After immigrating to Canada in 1998, Basak successfully completed the Prior Learning Assessment Program of the College of Midwives of Ontario in 1999 and was registered in June 2000. Since June 2000 she has worked with Guelph Midwives and has attended over 200 births both as a primary and secondary midwife. Basak is a member of the Breastfeeding Coalition of Guelph and the Maternal Newborn Coordinating Committee of Wellington County.

Gabrielle Hammond-Kannegieter graduated from midwifery school in Heerlen, the Netherlands, in 1993. She worked in both solo and group practices, attending both home and hospital births. Gabrielle immigrated to Canada in 1995 and now lives in Elora. She became eligible for Ontario registration through the Prior Learning Assessment programme of the College of Midwives of Ontario, and was registered in June 1997. She has attended over 800 births. Gabrielle is the Liaison Midwife at Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus.
Gabrielle is on maternity leave until August 2006.

Leslie Howarth graduated from the University of Guelph in 1981 with a degree in Women's Studies. She completed a three-year apprenticeship in 1991 and provided primary midwifery care in Ontario and Ohio until legislation in 1994. She has been practicing midwifery in the Guelph area for 16 years. Leslie has successfully completed the Prior Learning Assessment programme of the College of Midwives of Ontario and was registered in August 1997. Leslie is a member of the Breastfeeding Coalition of Guelph and the Maternal Newborn Coordinating Committee of Wellington County. She is the past Chief of Midwifery at Guelph General Hospital, and an auditor for the College of Midwives.

Iwona Kempa received her midwifery education in Poland. She graduated from Midwifery College in 1987 and worked in an Obstetrical Hospital in Warsaw. During her five years of work in Poland, she conducted over 200 deliveries. In Canada, she successfully completed the Midwifery Prior Learning Assessment in 1998. Iwona joined the practice in 2000 and has attended over 250 births as a primary and secondary midwife.

Shana Blackburn graduated from the Midwifery Education Programme at McMaster University in May of 2003 and attended more than 100 births over the course of the programme. Before starting her midwifery education in 1999 Shana attended the University of Guelph for two years majoring in Biology with a focus of electives in Women’s Studies. As part of her midwifery training, Shana completed two placements with the Cambridge Midwives, and spent her final year of clinical placements with the Guelph Midwives. She also completed her Community Block placements in Guelph, including a placement with Obstetrician Dr. Ben Ayanbadejo, a nursing placement at the Guelph General Hospital and an elective placement divided between the Meridian Wellness Centre and the Breastfeeding Support Centre. Shana is very committed to the community of Guelph and is thrilled to be part of the Guelph Midwives.

Julia Ward joined the practice in 2002 as our practice administrator. She has worked at both ends of the life spectrum, first as a doula in private practice and then as a palliative care worker with Hospice Wellington. Julia is a former client of Guelph Midwives and the mother of three wonderful children.

Lisa Ruiter ,our administrative assistant, has been with Guelph Midwives since 2003 and is the proud mother of 4 teenagers.

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Our Practice

Shared Care

We are a group practice and care for clients as a team. In this way we can offer continuity for our clients while helping to assure that the midwives at your birth are well rested and have the opportunity to enjoy their families as well! We try to ensure that you have adequate opportunity to get to know all persons who may attend your birth.

Back Up

In the unlikely event of multiple simultaneous births, or to help cover occasional holiday periods, we presently have various arrangements with area midwives from surrounding practices.
If a backup midwife needed to attend your birth, she would be assisting one of the midwives well known to you. If a midwife from another practice is scheduled to provide back up at a specific time, we will inform anyone due and try to provide the opportunity to meet the back-up midwife if you wish.

Students

We are a teaching practice. We do and will have students of varying skill levels working with us on a regular basis. We are very committed to midwifery education. Students working with midwives help to preserve some aspects of the traditional apprenticeship learning model. Clients benefit from the combination of experience enhanced by the freshness, energy and enthusiasm of students. The recent academic exposure the students enhances our continuing education. We encourage you to participate in the vital process of preparing more midwives to serve more of Ontario's women. We also fully respect your right to decline student involvement in any aspect of your care either before or after meeting the student. Students are closely supervised according to their level of progress.

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