Kaz (Karen) McKinley-Jones 

Becoming a midwife has been a journey for me. Arriving at Queen’s University in 1989 with a desire to be in health care, I was not able to see any direction that appealed to me. Then I had my daughter, Caitlyn, in 1992 and the path became clearer. I began teaching childbirth classes with Childbirth Kingston in 1994, soon after accompanying women and families as labour support and offering breastfeeding support. Completing my Psychology degree in 1996, I was accepted to the Midwifery Education Programme at McMaster University in 1997 and my daughter and I moved to Hamilton. Returning to Kingston as a student and in 2001 as a Registered Midwife has allowed me to come full circle. I look forward to meeting, learning from and caring for women and their families as I continue this journey.

Kelli Siegwart

After many years of pursuing my passion to become a midwife, I am honoured to be serving women and their families in the Kingston region.  I am originally from Thunder Bay Ontario and it was there, at Lakehead University where my journey into the world of midwifery began. While completing a degree in Anthropology, I became fascinated with various birthing traditions and infant feeding practices from around the world.  It was not long before I was volunteering with the local midwives, working with the midwifery consumer network and applying to the Ontario program.  I also trained as a Doula and was fortunate enough to attend births in this capacity in Thunder Bay and Calgary.  

I received my Honours Bachelor of Science in Midwifery from Laurentian University in Sudbury in 2005. I felt privileged to share in many women’s birth experiences and to work with amazing midwives during the clinical portions of my studies.  My placements brought me back to Thunder Bay, to Mississauga, Brampton and Kingston as well as to Pikangikum Ontario (a small, northern town accessible only by plane).   Kingston has now been home for the past 10 years.  My husband and I and our two daughters enjoy all the region has to offer.  I feel privileged to work with such an amazing group of women and I find caring for Kingston women and their families immensely fulfilling.

Susan Hubbard 

My family and I moved to Kingston (from Portugal) in order that I might begin working with the Community Midwives of Kingston. It was difficult for our family (3kids, a husband and a cat) to leave our life of sunshine and a house by the sea and we knew that we would have to find somewhere really wonderful to compensate for all that we were leaving behind.  I had heard great things about the Kingston midwives and the work they had done to firmly establish midwifery in their community. I was thrilled when I was offered a position with this practice.

I remain very excited about this opportunity to be a midwife in Kingston. I have met many wonderful women and had the privilege of walking with them and their families through pregnancy and birth. It is the first time I have had privileges at a teaching hospital and I continue to find it an interesting and vibrant atmosphere where staff and students are constantly learning together.  I have had the privilege of being at home with women as they birth and I find it a great honour to be welcomed in and allowed to help that family grow within the warmth and security of their own home.

For me midwifery is a vocation and I feel incredibly blessed with each opportunity I have to care for women and their families as they go through the life changing experience of birth.

Alyssa Byers-Heinlein 

I was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick. While New Brunswick is a province with many virtues, due to the lack of governmental support there were/are no registered midwives. As such, I was not exposed to the profession of midwifery until I neared the end of my undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While I enjoyed my degree in molecular genetics, within five minutes of researching midwifery in Canada I knew that supporting women through their pregnancies, birth and postpartum period was what I wanted to do with my life. I entered the Midwifery Education Program at McMaster University in 2010 and graduated in May 2014. Throughout the program I was fortunate to work with amazing midwives throughout communities in Ontario (Peterborough, Toronto, and Kingston) in addition to placements in communities in both rural and suburban Africa. I spent my final year of study with the Community Midwives of Kingston, and was thrilled and honoured to begin my career with the same midwives and community that encouraged, supported and allowed me to grow both personally and professionally.

Throughout my career I will strive to emulate the words of the 5th century BC philosopher Lao Tzu: “You are a midwife. You are assisting at someone else’s birth. Do good without show or fuss. Facilitate what is happening not what you think is happening, If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge. When the baby is born, the mother will rightly say, we did it ourselves."

Iryna Didyk

Hello, my name is Iryna Didyk and it is my great delight to be a part of the Community Midwives of Kingston! My path to midwifery in Canada started from a small university town in Ukraine, Ternopil, where I studied Medicine. After medical school, I enrolled in an Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency program at the local hospital for one year. The time spent in the program, though short, was very rewarding and ultimately, shaped my career pursuit. After immigrating to Canada with my husband, I became keenly interested in the concept of natural birth hence midwifery became a natural extension of my professional interest, belief and passion. Subsequently, I received Bachelor of Health Science in Midwifery from McMaster University in 2009. During my training, I had the opportunity to do my placements in Hamilton, Grimsby, Niagara Falls and Welland supporting women through their preferred birth experiences either at home or in a hospital. Upon completing my program, I practiced in a busy Midwifery clinic in Hamilton before relocating and settling down in Kingston in 2012.

Here in Kingston, my husband and I had our two daughters delivered by midwives. Undoubtedly, being a midwifery client further broadened my understanding of midwifery care and I believe will improve my clinical approach in care for my future clients. We hope to make Kingston our home for many years to come. The beauty of this historic limestone city and reasonable distance to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are very endearing to my family and me. I look forward to meeting you all.

Mico Devos

Alison Gorringe 

I'm Alison and I am from Wales in the UK. I came to Canada in 2010 with my husband, our daughter and our son. Both our children are adults now and our daughter has given us a gorgeous grandson who is 15 months old. I was at his birth but I was not a midwife that day, I was a mum (haha). I left that to my midwifery colleagues.

 I have been practicing midwifery for 15+ years and I've enjoyed every minute of it. After working as a registered nurse, I decided to pursue a career in midwifery which is my absolute passion. I completed my Bachelor’s degree at the University of Glamorgan in Wales, and then worked on an obstetric unit in my home town. As well as a hospital-based midwife, I've also worked in the community and a stand-alone birth centre.

Sarah Chisholm

Greetings! I was born and raised in Toronto. My passion for people and places, lead me to Halifax to study International Development and Spanish at Dalhousie University, where I spent a semester abroad in Havana, Cuba. After focusing on large scale issues like social justice and sustainability for my undergrad, I turned my focus to individual health and pursued a diploma in Holistic Nutrition and studied under a medical herbalist. During that time, I ran cooking and gardening programs for at risk youth, and began volunteering with the Single Parent Centre of Halifax as a doula. It was my experiences as a doula that ignited the fire that lead me to Midwifery. Bearing witness to the power of individuals during childbirth, made me passionate about obtaining skills that support people feeling safe and in charge during their childbearing experience.

Through my training, I’ve worked in the communities of Stratford, Ajax, and Toronto, in rural, urban and suburban settings, with a wide range of families from all over the world.  I’m continually humbled by this work, and in awe of the individuals I work with. I look forward to meeting you and am grateful to be assisting you on this journey.

Claire Portigal

“We must celebrate ourselves for our courage to birth. The real question becomes not, “Have you done your breathing exercises?” but rather, “Can you love yourself no matter how you birth, where you birth or what the outcome?” ~ Claudia Panuthos

I have caught babies in Russia, on both coasts of the USA, Northern and Southern Manitoba, Calgary, along the Hudson Bay coast in Nunavik, in the Ottawa Valley, Belleville and now Kingston! I am so happy to be living and working in this beautiful and historic region and with this amazing community of people. I have so much gratitude for being able to watch and help people (big and small) grow and learn during the magical year of birth. The surprises, the diversity of experience, the intimacy of our relationships with our clients and of course, the juicy, little babies, are my favorite parts of this profession. 

Professional photos by www.lfphotography.com