Sarah Hilbert-West
Sarah is our founding Registered Midwife (currently on leave)
After leaving high school and attending university (the first time around), I spent eight years working in the Parliament buildings in Victoria, as an events planner, communications officer, and researcher. Upon returning to my hometown of Quesnel in 2002, I worked for several years in the community's perinatal community as: a parenting educator at the North Cariboo Aboriginal Family Centre, a childbirth educator for the Northern Health Authority, and a member (and then chair) of the Quesnel Perinatal Committee. During that time, I also helped to set up and run a telephone support group for women suffering post-partum depression. I have also served as a birth doula in Quesnel, Williams Lake, Prince George, Victoria and Vancouver.
I am a graduate of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Midwifery Program (housed within the UBC Faculty of Medicine), where I earned a Bachelor of Midwifery (BMw) in 2010. I have been studing pregnancy and birth since beginning my perinatal journey in 2001, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to practice midwifery in Quesnel for a year before settling in Prince George in 2011.
I am a passionate believer in the normalcy of birth as a part of a woman's life cycle, and I believe strongly in informed choice and in support for rural and isolated women. I am committed to growing the midwifery profession and have served on the Aboriginal, Rural and Remote Committee of the UBC Midwifery Program, and as a member of the executive board of the Midwives Association of BC (MABC). I previously chaired the Rural Midwives Committee and served on the MABC Locum Program Working Group.
I am currently a clinicial instructor for the Students for Global Citizenship Program in international midwifery for UBC and supervise midwifery students in Uganda every second May. While working as a midwife, I graduated from UNBC with Masters in Ed (Counselling) in May 2019, with an interest in birth trauma and post-partum and perinatal mental health.
I am also a Midwifery Emergency Skills facilitator for the Midwives Association of BC, and have served as a midwifery preceptor as well as an observational placement for students of the UNBC Bachelor of Science Nursing (BScN) program (Quesnel campus) and as a guest lecturer for the Nurse Practitioners and nursing program at UNBC.
I have three children of my own and two step-children, and (through my mother) am a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. I have a strong interest in aboriginal midwifery and in expanding access to culturally appropriate maternity care close to home for all women.
I look forward to meeting you and supporting you in your pregnancy and parenting journey.
Sarah