Our Midwives

The experienced midwives at Open Door Midwifery offer you a well planned and highly supported journey through pregnancy, birth and the early postpartum.

Leanne Yeates RM, BA, BHSc (Midwifery)

I have been involved with women’s reproductive health for over twenty years. In the mid-90s, I received my Psychology degree from York University and gained an early understanding of the emotional, social and psychological aspects of caring for women through my work as a sexual and reproductive health counsellor. In 1993, following the regulation of midwifery in Ontario, I had my first experience with midwives while providing doula care for incarcerated youth at the Metro West Detention Centre in Toronto. I later earned my Bachelor of Health Sciences Degree in Midwifery at Ryerson University in Toronto and was honoured with the receipt of three awards recognizing my academic and clinical achievements. Over the years, I have worked as a midwife in both Ontario and British Columbia and am the founding midwife at Open Door Midwifery.

In addition to my busy clinical practice, I am the Vice-President of the College of Midwives of BC. I sit on the Perinatal Services BC Oversight Council and serve on the Executive for the Department of Midwifery in Vancouver. I am a Clinical Assistant Professor in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine and value my teaching role with midwifery, nursing and medical students.

Most importantly, I am a passionate advocate for normal birth. I strive to create and be part of an environment which fosters respect for women’s autonomy and results in a birth experience that each woman can look back upon with confidence and dignity.

Thea Parkin RM, BSc, BMW

I have had a lifelong interest in the pursuit of health. Early on I studied nutrition, which gave me a good grounding in the sciences and a formal introduction to the amazing abilities of the human body. I was living in the UK when I first learned of midwives, but it was after my niece was born that I realized I’d found what was going to be my life’s work! I completed my midwifery training through UBC and I feel so fortunate to be practicing alongside my wonderful practice partners in Vancouver, my home community.

My goal is to support my clients to feel confident and capable during this most incredible journey; I support this through both my experience and skills gained from working with so many different families and my commitment to staying current with the evidence surrounding pregnancy, birth and parenting. I bring with me enthusiasm for midwifery and health, a commitment to supporting women to make informed choices, and a firm belief that women should feel safe and respected as they nurture and bring new life into the world.

Jasmine Freed RM, BA, BMW

During the birth of my first niece eight years ago, I was deeply inspired by the combination of clinical skills and compassion that my sister’s midwife offered. Through this birth, I discovered my own commitment to women’s health through providing safe and empowering midwifery care.

Initially, I worked as a birth and postpartum doula before completing midwifery studies at the University of British Columbia. Working as a doula with a diverse range of people deepened my fascination and respect for pregnancy, birth, and new families. As a midwifery student I mostly trained with BC midwives and doctors. However, I also had the opportunity to do a rotation in Uganda at two under-resourced and overcrowded government hospitals. After this intense experience, I focused my graduating paper on maternal and newborn health in poorer countries. I hope to fit in more international midwifery work and research in the future.

I have previously worked as a midwife in Richmond and Delta, BC, as well as done midwifery locums in a remote northern Inuit community in Nunavut called Cambridge Bay. Now I am delighted to be joining the team at Open Door and to be working in my hometown Vancouver.

Martha Roberts RM

Since the birth of my daughter Sophia in 1997, I have been privileged to work with childbearing women and their families, attending approximately 500 births over 13 years. I have worked as a doula, a lay midwife assistant, and an educator/researcher in maternal and newborn health. As the culmination of my experience, I received my Bachelor of Midwifery from the University of British Columbia and since that time have been working as a Registered Midwife in Vancouver. For the past several years I have worked at the South Community Birth Program, a very busy shared-care practice in South Vancouver.

My passion for working with women and families through the transition into parenthood stems from my years of working in community-based women’s health initiatives and participatory action research with low-income mothers and children in the Lower Mainland of BC. I have a passion for community health from the local to the international community. In 2005 I had the privilege of participating in the International People’s Health University at the University of Cuenca’s Medical School in Cuenca, Ecuador, and I sit on the Canadian Circle of the People’s Health Movement. In 2008, my family and I spent 7 months in the mountains of the Philippines, where I worked as a rural midwife and an educator for Community Health Workers. My current community work includes facilitating popular education workshops on common health issues for low-income communities through the Alliance for People’s Health.