Strengthening Communities Through Midwifery: The Vital Role of Rural Midwives in Alberta
Across Alberta, midwives are doing much more than welcoming new life — they are keeping families connected to their communities, improving health outcomes, and reducing strain on hospitals. This is particularly evident in rural regions like Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie, where a small but mighty number of midwives are transforming lives every day through compassion, collaboration, and commitment.
A Visit to Fort McMurray: Passion and Care Rooted in Community
In Fort McMurray, midwifery is more than a service — it is a cornerstone of community health. Fort McMurray Midwifery Practice, established in 2020, is a vibrant hub of care led by four exceptionally talented and dedicated midwives: Debbie Mpofu, Shazeal Taylor, Ashlyn Doyle, and Maddie Amyotte. Together, they have built something truly remarkable.
Operating from a thoughtfully converted home, the practice offers a comforting environment for families, featuring a welcoming lobby, a fully equipped kitchen, laundry facilities, and a consultation room adorned with joyful images of newborns and multicultural artwork from Africa and Canada. Every detail speaks to the heart of midwifery: personalized, respectful, and family-centered care.
Despite the vast size of the region they serve, the collaboration between Fort McMurray’s midwives and other healthcare providers is exemplary. Midwives here are seamlessly integrated into the healthcare system, working closely with hospitals and primary care teams with mutual respect and admiration. This type of interprofessional relationship strengthens outcomes and fosters a more holistic healthcare experience for families. Yet, even with such strong collaborations, the demand for midwifery services far outpaces supply. Many people in Fort McMurray — also known by its Dene name, Kátł’odeeche — are of birthing age, but the shortage of midwives and obstetricians means that families sometimes have no choice but to leave their home communities to give birth. This can cause emotional, financial, and cultural strain, especially for those from Indigenous and remote communities.
The presence of midwives allows families to stay rooted — to remain close to the support systems of family and friends. Midwifery is particularly critical for managing low-risk pregnancies, easing the burden on hospitals, and ensuring that care remains community-centered rather than institutionally distant.
Expanding midwifery access — including by creating easier registration pathways for Indigenous midwives, internationally trained professionals, and those with prior healthcare experience — would not only meet the growing demand but would also preserve the unique strengths and traditions of the communities they serve.
Grande Prairie: Small Teams, Big Impact
In Grande Prairie, another example of rural midwifery’s resilience and dedication shines through. Midwives Bisi Adegunju, Deanna Reiswig, and Axa Patino form a small but powerful team catering to pregnant people living both in the city and hours away — including several Indigenous communities.
The Grande Prairie practice, adorned with photos of new families, infants, and joyful moments, offers a space where care feels personal and sacred. Like their counterparts in Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie midwives maintain strong, collaborative relationships with local hospitals. Physicians, nurses, and midwives work side-by-side, demonstrating what successful interdisciplinary care looks like.
These midwives not only deliver care but also work to inspire future generations. They regularly speak at local schools and at Grande Prairie’s Polytechnic campus, sharing their knowledge and encouraging students — particularly those from rural and Indigenous backgrounds — to consider midwifery as a career.
However, challenges persist. The lack of accessible midwifery education options outside Calgary is a significant barrier. Mount Royal University (MRU) remains the only post-secondary institution offering a Bachelor of Midwifery in Alberta, with a limited number of seats available annually. For someone living in the North or South Zones of Alberta, pursuing midwifery often means moving away from family, community, and support systems for four years — or leaving the province altogether. This hardship discourages many from pursuing the profession and creates uncertainty about whether midwives educated elsewhere will return to serve rural regions.
When local education opportunities are limited, rural communities face the loss not just of potential midwives but of entire ecosystems of culturally connected, community-based care.
A Call to Action: Building Capacity and Strengthening Care
To create a more inclusive and sustainable perinatal care system across Alberta, several urgent actions must be taken — while remaining mindful of the unique realities of midwifery education and workforce needs:
Support Indigenous midwifery practices: Integrate traditional Indigenous knowledge into midwifery education and care models to build culturally safe, community-rooted services.
Create accessible and realistic pathways for qualified individuals: Develop entry routes for those with prior healthcare experience, Indigenous traditional knowledge, or international training — while also ensuring that placement and mentorship opportunities can keep pace.
Increase support for midwife preceptors: Without enough fairly compensated preceptors to supervise and mentor students, expanded education programs cannot succeed. Building capacity must go hand-in-hand with investment in the current workforce.
Fund rural birthing centers: Support safe, local birthing options to reduce the need for costly and disruptive relocations, particularly in remote and underserved regions.
Ensure equitable compensation for practicing midwives: Fair pay is essential not only for retention but also for acknowledging the critical role midwives play in community health.
Pilot interdisciplinary team models: Build on existing interprofessional successes by launching pilot projects that formally integrate midwives into primary healthcare teams alongside physicians, nurses, and other professionals.
Recognize the essential role of midwifery: Midwives are vital to the health and wellbeing of families — especially in Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, and rural communities. Ongoing advocacy is needed to ensure midwives are supported as full members of Alberta’s healthcare system.
Through these actions, we can ensure that midwifery continues to grow not only in rural regions but across the province, providing all families with the care they deserve.
Why It Matters: A Shared Heartbeat Across Alberta
Midwifery is more than a healthcare service — it is an embodiment of community resilience, cultural connection, and compassionate care. The midwives of Fort McMurray — Debbie Mpofu, Shazeal Taylor, Ashlyn Doyle, and Maddie Amyotte — and Grande Prairie Midwives — Bisi Adegunju, Deanna Resiwig, and Axa Patino — have built powerful examples of what midwifery can achieve when nurtured within the community.
While the landscapes of Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie differ, the values they uphold are strikingly similar: care rooted in dignity, respect for cultural traditions, a commitment to holistic support, and a deep sense of belonging.
By expanding midwifery education, strengthening rural practices, and advocating for systemic change, we can build a future where every community — no matter how remote or urban — has access to the life-changing care that midwives provide.
Investing in rural midwifery is investing in Alberta’s future — one family, one birth, and one community at a time.