About Vera Berard RM & Colleagues.
Vera Berard completed her initial nursing and midwifery education in South Africa. She immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1982. Before founding the North Shore’s first regulated midwifery practice in 1998, she worked as a nurse, childbirth educator and a midwife at BC Women's Hospital. She has more than 21 years of experience and has attended over 3,000 births in her career. Since being in independent practice on the North Shore, her practice has provided services to over 600 families and many midwives have been mentored about maternity and midwifery services in her practice. These midwives are now practicing independently at various locations throughout the province.
Vera has been awarded a master's of midwifery practice from Thames Valley University, London, UK and an assistant clinical professorship from the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine - Department of Family Practice. She has been an active member of Lions Gate Hospital medical staff for over a decade and was one of the founding midwives responsible for negotiating BC’s 1st midwifery contract and for establishing BC Women’s Midwifery Department. Vera has been a strong advocate for women having informed choices during their childbearing and for supporting the physiological processes of labor, birth and breastfeeding, including mother and baby-friendly initiatives.
Her area of interest has been the development of supportive and sustainable community, particularly incorporating group care into midwifery practice and in creating work life integration. This includes learning to live in an environmentally and humanely friendly manner herself. She has found providing comprehensive maternity care to women and their families from early pregnancy, through labor and birth, early parenting until 6 – 8 weeks postpartum a privilege that has been tremendously rewarding and has enriched her life. Vera considers that “the power of birth, women's resilience and the mysterious transition of another soul into life never ceases to awe and humble her…" She attributes her practice’s success due to the women whom she’s been privileged to serve; her own persevering warm and enthusiastic nature; the loving support of her husband, daughter and their family dog; as well as to the collaborative support of Vancouver Coastal Health’s multi-disciplinary team ( nurses, midwives, family doctors, counselors, lactation consultants and specialists) at Lions Gate Hospital and in the North Shore and Vancouver community. She is also grateful for the compassionate lived example of sustainable living that Quayside Village Co-housing Community has provided.
Jill Freeman RM
Jill Freeman is a proud graduate of UBC’s Midwifery Education Program. During her midwifery studies, she was fortunate to work with midwives and obstetricians at various sites across the Lower Mainland and attend hospital births at Royal Columbian, St. Paul’s and BC Women’s. In the summer before her final year of midwifery school, she traveled to Holland and spent a placement with home-birth based Dutch midwives. Midwifery has been her dream job and passion since her interest in pregnancy and childbirth was sparked as an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University. Jill completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a joint major in English and Women’s Studies before starting her formal midwifery education. She has shared prenatal, birth and postpartum experiences with more than two hundred families and learns something new from each course of care! Jill is happy to work with women and their families and to provide midwifery services as part of the team that makes up Midwifery Care North Shore and as a member of the larger team at Lions Gate Hospital. Jill shares a home in Vancouver with her husband, two children (including one teenager) and one hound.
