dr. helle møller

call the midwife

ensuring equitable maternity care for all northern ontarians

overview:

many northern ontario communities have limited access to maternity and newborn care
training more midwives can help solve the region's healthcare challenges
dr. kirsty bourret and dr. helle møller's research team offers timely maternity care solutions

bringing a child into the world should always be a joyful experience, but for many northern ontario families, pregnancy also brings stress and anxiety.

women across the region report difficulties in finding adequate perinatal and pregnancy care.

"if a woman living outside of a major centre needs her baby delivered, she often has to travel an average of four or five hours," says health sciences professor dr. kirsty bourret.

dr. kirsty bourret

dr. kirsty bourret (left) is a francophone settler, midwife and researcher committed to advancing primary care, reproductive justice, anti-racism, and culturally safe care. she bridges clinical practice, policy, and implementation research to strengthen health systems that reflect the communities they serve.

rural, indigenous, and francophone communities face the greatest challenges.

"over the last five years, birth services in northern ontario hospitals have been shutting down," says health sciences professor dr. helle møller. "many of the remaining doctors don't have experience assisting with births, so they aren't offering maternity care."

"it was emotionally difficult to be separated from my two-year-old child for so long."
- northern ontario woman who had to leave her community to give birth

dr. helle moeller dr. helle møller (right) studies the determinants of health, social justice, and equity in health, healthcare, and health education. in particular, she focuses on perinatal people, people on the female continuum, and indigenous people in northern, rural, and remote regions.

for dr. bourret and dr. møller, the way to solve this concerning state-of-affairs is obvious. train more midwives so that they can step into the gap.

currently, midwives support approximately 40 per cent of all births in thunder bay, however, there aren't enough of them to meet demand in the region.

"hundreds of northern ontarians who want midwifery services are turned away because of a shortage of midwives," dr. bourret says.

what exactly does a midwife do?

midwives are frontline healthcare providers whose services, which are free of charge, are comparable to those offered by doctors and nurse practitioners.

prenatal, birth, and postpartum care is the focus of most midwives; however, they can also tend to every aspect of women's health and reproductive needs—from their teen years to menopause and beyond.

this care includes routine health screenings, contraception, early pregnancy loss and pregnancy care, care of mothers, and care of babies for the first two years of their lives.

they also allow women to choose where they will deliver their babies—at home, in a hospital, or at a birth centre.

a midwife takes the blood pressure of a mother holding a baby

during home births, midwives bring clinical equipment including blood pressure cuffs, ivs, portable ultrasounds, and instruments for suturing, as well as medications to stabilize newborns and mothers. some midwives travel up to 400 km to treat patients in rural northern communities. photo credit: association of ontario midwives

"there are a lot of misconceptions about midwives, including that they're untrained and unregulated," dr. møller says.

"we want the public to know that midwives must complete a four-year university degree and that they are a regulated health profession governed by the college of midwives of ontario. they collaborate closely with specialists and are recognized by the province of ontario as essential to interprofessional primary care teams."

dr. bourret is a midwife herself. "i came to midwifery in 2000 because i believe that everyone deserves equitable, safe, and respectful care."

"midwives have a unique philosophy of care and a huge positive effect on their clients' mental health," agrees dr. møller.

they provide continuity of care, informed choice, are on call 24 hours a day for urgent concerns, and travel to clients' homes for postpartum care.

standing up for women and children

a woman seated upright in a hospital bed holds her newborn baby

midwives help patients navigate a complex healthcare system by acting as advocates and by offering counselling and referrals. currently, there are only about 1,000 midwives to serve ontario's population of over 16 million. photo credit: unsplash/brian wangenheim

dr. møller and dr. bourret are part of northern midwifery care—an interdisciplinary research group committed to ensuring that every woman in northern ontario receives culturally safe, equitable midwifery care.

the group is leading a large qualitative and quantitative midwifery research study called "mapping midwifery care in northern ontario, an intersectional mixed methods study."

"until now, there was no research showing where midwives are working in northern ontario and how the midwife shortage is affecting access to primary healthcare," says dr. bourret, who is the study's lead investigator.

dr. møller is a co-investigator along with laurentian university midwifery professor emeritus dr. susan james and dr. patrick timony with the centre for rural and northern health research. their diverse research team also includes graduate 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and northern ontario client partner researchers with lived experiences, including midwives and doulas.

midwives make all the difference

a midwife shares an information sheet with a mother holding a baby

over 51 midwives, plus clients from every district in northern ontario, were interviewed for the research study. "i come from denmark where midwives provide 85 per cent of care to pregnant and birthing people," dr. møller says. photo credit: association of ontario midwives

preliminary results of the study have found that midwives provide timely and continuous primary care across rural, remote, and urban communities in the north and that they are one of the backbones of a good healthcare system.

they divert admissions to hospitals—including costly emergency department visits for women and newborns—and free up hospital resources for other patients.

that's why dr. bourret and dr. møller are organizing the northern ontario midwifery symposium this winter, to explore challenges, innovations, and collaborative solutions that will support sustainable midwifery care in northern ontario.

"midwives are change agents,"dr. møller says.

make your voice heard by clicking here to register for the northern ontario midwifery symposium on february 6, 2026.

dr. bourret and dr. møller's research is funded by the association of ontario midwives. you can learn more about the northern midwifery care research group on facebook and instagram. you can also email them at northernmidwiferycare@gmail.com.

keywords:

national day of remembrance and action on violence against women

the hands of two people holding lit candles add their candles to a group of white candles burning in the darkness

photo credit: unsplash/nick fewings

a sombre time of the year is approaching for 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 , and for all canadians.

december 6 marks the anniversary of the murders of 14 young women at montreal's École polytechnique in 1989.

targeted in an act of misogynistic violence, the women ranged in age from 20 to 31.

among the dead were nursing student barbara klucznik-widajewicz and maryse laganière, a polytechnique finance employee. the other 12 victims were engineering 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 .

this mass femicide, which became known as the "montreal massacre," led canada to declare december 6 the national day of remembrance and action on violence against women. it's also known as white ribbon day.

the families and friends of the women still mourn their loved ones. we join together with them in solidarity, pledging to never forget the victims of this tragedy.

every december 6, we remember:

geneviève bergeron, mechanical engineering student, aged 21
hélène colgan, mechanical engineering student, aged 23
nathalie croteau, mechanical engineering student, aged 23
barbara daigneault, mechanical engineering student, aged 22
anne-marie edward, chemical engineering student, aged 21
maud haviernick, metallurgical engineering student, aged 29
maryse laganière, École polytechnique finance employee, aged 25
maryse leclair, metallurgical engineering student, aged 23
anne-marie lemay, mechanical engineering student, aged 22
sonia pelletier, mechanical engineering student, aged 28
michèle richard, metallurgical engineering student, aged 21
annie st-arneault, mechanical engineering student, aged 23
annie turcotte, metallurgical engineering student, aged 20
barbara klucznik-widajewicz, université de montréal nursing student, aged 31

engineering 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and activists grapple with a devastating legacy

"things have changed for women in engineering," says sana sharif, a lakehead electrical and computer engineering phd student. "there's more acceptance, even since i began my studies.

but in 2025, we are still fighting because there is still violence. white ribbon day is a powerful reminder of the brilliant female engineering 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 whose lives were stolen. i'm standing on their shoulders."

what happened in 1989 led to debates and soul searching by a country in shock.

"it's ironic that it took this horrific mass casualty to spur canadians to take serious steps to attempt to stop gender-based violence (gbv)," says lakehead health sciences professor dr. helle møller.

"although policies and legislation to protect women existed in 1989, research evaluating their effectiveness largely hadn't been done. this was, and continues to be, reflected in the underreporting of gender-based violence."

the commemorative granite plaque on the wall of montreal's École polytechnique listing the names of the women who were murdered at the school on december 6, 1989

the commemorative plaque on the southwest wall of École polytechnique's main building (now renamed polytechnique montréal), which bears the school's coat of arms and the names of the 14 victims. photo credit: wikimedia commons/bobanny

in partnership with the thunder bay district health unit and southeast public health, dr. møller and her fellow lakehead researchers oriana rodriguez and nana nyarkoa-oduro have spent the last year developing a framework to prevent gender-based violence.

the newly launched framework provides a foundation for public health units to address the root causes of gender-based violence, and take evidence-based action across different sectors.

"we've come a long way as a society when it comes to gender-based violence, but often we still don't act until it's too late," dr. møller says.

"this is evident from the refusal of the federal government, and most provincial governments, to declare gbv an epidemic, despite rising gbv stats in canada. united nations secretary-general antónio guterres has described violence directed at women and girls as 'the world's longest, deadliest pandemic.'"

at lakehead, many other researchers are involved in crucial work to build a society that is safe for women and girls—including gender and women's studies professor dr. lori chambers and social work professors dr. angela hovey, dr. susan scott, and dr. jodie murphy.

they are making important strides in understanding and overcoming gender-based violence, as are student researchers like erika puiras and casey oliver.

a new generation committed to change

"when do revolutions start?" asks parvinder kaur. "where does the spark come from, and how do we keep it alive to keep making our world a better place?"

as the coordinator of the 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 student union gender equity centre, ending gender-based violence is one of her goals.

"i am an international student and, according to my parents, i have always questioned inequality. gender became a focus when i started volunteering as a crisis responder with shamsaha."

shamsaha is a non-profit in bahrain that helps women facing domestic and sexual abuse.

i very quickly learnt that voice is a privilege, and what good would it be if i didn't use mine.

parvinder now works to make lakehead's campus a safer space for all 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 through initiatives like the recent survivors solidarity event hosted by pride and gender equity centre.

"i tried to connect 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 with the office of human rights and equity on campus along with counselors for sexual and intimate partner violence from thunder bay counselling," parvinder says.

"education is key, and so is remembering our history," she adds.

as the anniversary of the montreal massacre draws near, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 would like to pause and reflect on the lives of these young women, and to renew its commitment to ending gender-based violence.

"if we don't remind people of what happened on december 6, 1989, it will be forgotten," dr. møller says. "it's now more important than ever to continue fighting."

"there is no place for violence in our classrooms, our institutions, or our society," adds sana sharif. "we need women's ideas and their leadership."

commemorate white ribbon day by:

observing a moment of silence at 11:00 am on december 6
wearing a white ribbon
donating to a local women's organization or to the white ribbon campaign, the world's largest movement of men and boys working to end gender-based violence
participating in the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence between november 25 to december 10
using the social media hashtags #rememberthe14 and #16days and following the lusu gender equity centre instagram account @gec_lusu

click here to learn more about the vibrant young women who died on december 6, 1989.

keywords:

national day of remembrance and action on violence against women

dr. helle møller

parvinder kaur

sana sharif