Luba Butska

RM, PhD

Associate Professor of Teaching (tenure track)

6048227998

Luba Butska was appointed as Assistant Professor of Teaching at UBC’s Midwifery Program in 2018. She has been a Registered Midwife for 14 years, since graduating from Ontario’s Midwifery Education Program in 2007. Before becoming a midwife, Luba was a university instructor and received her PhD in Linguistics in 2002. From 2007-2016 she practiced full scope midwifery in Calgary where she was also a preceptor, an educator in Alberta’s midwifery program, and had leadership roles in regulatory and policy bodies in Alberta. After moving to BC she worked full time in Vancouver prior to becoming an instructor in the UBC Midwifery Program and a committee member of the College of Midwives of BC Quality Assurance Committee. Since 2020 she has also been a member of the Professional Practice and Standards Committee at the BC College of Nurses and Midwives.

Luba’s educational leadership includes work on the BC Midwifery Sustainable Task Force, including work with students to study midwifery and student burnout. Luba has also published work on burnout in BC and how it relates to working conditions in BC. Luba’s survey of midwifery workforce issues soon after the start of Covid-19 was covered widely in print and radio media. Luba was also awarded a Stollery Foundation grant to study the complexity of midwifery practice in BC; this work is ongoing. Luba believes midwifery education should be accessible for everyone and is honored to be part of the DOME: Distributed Online Midwifery Education project for UBC Midwifery which increases access to midwifery education. Most recently, she was invited as a panelist to the International Confederation of Midwives “Enabling Midwifery” panel in 2021 to discuss barriers and enablers of sustainable midwifery in BC.

Luba’s educational scholarship explores the intersection of midwifery education with the contemporary midwifery workplace. She is particularly interested in the educational processes in complex, dynamic midwifery workplace contexts and spaces where midwifery educators can collaborate to co-produce knowledge with the wider midwifery community in Canada and abroad.

Education

Ryerson University (Midwifery), 2007, RM
Rutgers University (Linguistics), 2002, PhD
University of Toronto (Linguistics), 1996, MA
 

Courses

MIDW 107 Physical Assessment
MIDW 215 Ethics in Midwifery Care
MIDW 305 Midwifery Theory for Variations in Primary Care
MIDW 320 Variations in Midwifery Clinical Care
MIDW 322 Midwifery Primary Care
 

Professional Affiliations

College of Midwives of BC, Quality Assurance Committee Member
Midwives Association of BC, Member
Canadian Association of Midwives, Member
St. Paul’s Hospital, Medical Staff
 

Research Interests

Luba’s research interests center on the nature of midwifery work. Specific areas include: midwifery models of practice; place of birth; working conditions; integration; and how maternity care policies and programs impact physiologic birth. Her research explores how the nature of midwifery work impacts midwifery health and wellness, reproductive health and outcomes, and people’s experience of birth.

Publications and Presentations

Butska, L. (2021 accepted) Continuity of care, financial stress, and midwifery wellbeing: a comparison of survey results from two Canadian provinces. 32nd ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) Triennial Congress, Bali, Indonesia.

Butska, L. & Stoll, K. (2020 in press) When Midwives Burn Out: Differences in intentions to leave the profession among midwives from British Columbia and Alberta. Canadian Journal of Midwifery Research & Practice.

Butska L, & Hiroe, K. (2019) Homebirth Outside the Range of Normal: A Midwifery Case Review. Canadian Association of Midwives Annual Conference.

Butska, L. (2019) Burnout : What can we learn from the survey of midwives in BC and Alberta? Invited speaker. Mount Royal University.

Butska, L. (2018) Should I stay or should I go: Burnout and Leaving Midwifery in BC and Alberta. Canadian Association of Midwives Conference, Gatineau, QC.

Butska, L. (2017) Application of an Experiential Learning Cycle to Guide Teaching of Physiologic Birth. Canadian Association of Midwifery Educators Symposium.

Butska, L. (2016) ‘I’m not a feminist but…’: Organization of midwifery practices in Alberta. Canadian Association of Midwives Conference, Victoria, BC.

Butska, L. (2016) Legal Issues and Risks in the Practice of Midwifery. Invited speaker, Health Law section of the Canadian Bar Association, Calgary, AB.

Butska, L. (2012) Midwifery and Access to Health in a Global Context. Invited speaker, GENTALKS: Mount Royal University talks for General Education, Calgary, AB.