Rachel Wardle
Meet Rachel - I am a UK trained nurse and midwife who decided to emigrate to Canada for a better lifestyle for my family and to be able to practice midwifery in the way I love – by getting to know women and their families and share in their journey’s through pregnancy, birth and into early parenthood.
I knew I wanted to be a midwife from the age of 13 but it was difficult to become a midwife directly at the time so I enrolled in a nursing degree first and worked in gynaecology and emergency nursing before getting a working holiday visa, my Australian nursing registration and a one-way ticket to Perth! I travelled around the world for 18 months with a friend, going to SE Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and the USA, we also worked our way around Oz for a year during this time. I really enjoyed nursing in Australia, particularly the time I spent working in a 12 bed hospital in a remote Aboriginal community in north west Australia, where we were a 6 hour drive to the nearest town and sent our samples to the lab overnight on the Greyhound bus! After working in London, it certainly gave me a different perspective.
When I returned to the UK I enrolled on a Midwifery degree and pursued my dream to be a midwife. I worked mainly in independent practice in the UK for 15 years and then in a hospital in Eastern England for the last 2 years.
Over the years I have become experienced in homebirth, waterbirth, use of essential oils to enhance labor and postpartum healing, caring for women with various risk factors and I am a passionate breastfeeding advocate.
I feel extremely lucky to have secured one of the few places available for internationally trained midwives to transition to the Canadian midwifery model and obtain my registration to practice here.
I am married with 2 children, my daughter is 7 and my son has just turned 4. We have all enjoyed exploring BC since we arrived in February 2019, spending 3 months living in Mission in the lower mainland while I was studying in Vancouver followed by 3 months in Cranbrook while I undertook my practicum and finally moving to Prince George in September 2019 ready to start working with Sarah and where we can put down some roots.
I am really excited to be practising as a Canadian midwife and look forward to sharing your pregnancy journey with you and your family.
Rachel