Spotlight on Student Excellence: Shayla Rolph Receives the Maija Leivo and Ian Herring Entrance Award in Midwifery 

What first drew you to midwifery as a profession? 

Motherhood has always been a passion of mine. From the time I can remember, I was always fascinated with babies and motherhood. When I was a child, I carried my baby dolls everywhere, watched countless episodes of A Baby Story on TLC, and babysat as much as I could. To this day, I find myself having such a love for mommas and babies and spending a lot of time with them. I knew I wanted to be part of motherhood and pregnancy, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like. My family doctor inspired me as well as he had special privileges to do antepartum, delivery, and postpartum care. He always said he loved being the first face the baby saw, and to this day, I still think of those words. The turning point was in my first degree, when I took a child development course that covered birth to age 18. It fascinated me; I needed a whole course specifically on prenatal development. I knew then that I wanted to start working towards this as a career. I also volunteered in the community and on my local hospital’s pediatric and maternity floors, which only further solidified this path for me.  

As I grew into womanhood myself, this passion grew into a determination to advocate for women in healthcare. From hearing first-hand accounts of what women have experienced in painful procedures and through my own experiences with bereavement, every part of me desires to improve the system and change the narrative.  

Over the last 6 years, I have become immersed in my Metis culture. Learning how imperative midwifery has been in Indigenous culture draws me even closer to the profession. I feel I am truly fulfilling my role and calling as a Métis woman, and I know my ancestors are with me and guiding me every step of the way. 

How has your experience in the program influenced the way you see your future role as a midwife?

Prior to starting the program, I had a strong desire for rural locum work, as I know the need is high in places with fewer resources. After learning about countless stories and experiences of women who have had to leave their communities for weeks and months to be able to deliver in an urban area, this further consolidated my desire. In one of my classes, we are listening to stories of those being denied homebirths because they are not within 30 minutes of a major hospital, having to drive mountain passes in the winter to access maternity care, or uproot their family for an unknown amount of time – these stories spark that desire to bring birth back to community.  When I am learning about these experiences in class, all I can picture is me, driving, flying, or ferry-boating up to these communities to provide care. I would do anything to not have these women driving 200km for an appointment or having to lose all their supports and culture to go to an urban hospital. Learning how colonialism has impacted Indigenous midwifery further influences how I see myself in my Metis midwifery journey.  

It has also further supported my belief in how women – truly everyone – should be treated in healthcare. How to give informed choice, informed consent, provide bodily autonomy, change the language to inclusive, and provide trauma-informed care, all being embedded into the curriculum, it does not surprise me now that the mothers I know who have had midwives revere them – this might be the most holistic care they have ever received. The program has influenced the way I see midwives; it is beyond birth. 

Which part of midwifery care do you feel most passionate about providing to families? 

Narrowing it down to one part of midwifery care is a difficult task. Maybe I will have a more honed passion after the 4 years of my degree, and spending time gaining knowledge and experience in the community with midwives. Right now, however, I strongly desire to be in rural communities providing midwifery care – antepartum, delivery and postpartum care. I can see myself flying into these remote communities that have no road access. I have heard Indigenous midwives talk about their experiences in Bella Bella and Bella Coola, and hearing how they are integrated into those communities fuels my passion. In the future, I hope preconception care is added to the midwifery scope of practice in BC, as it is also an immense passion of mine. I have such empathy for women going through infertility, and there’s not much else that pulls on my heartstrings as deeply. It would be such a part of the continuity of care, providing preconception care up to postpartum care for mothers.  

What impact do you hope to have in your community through your midwifery practice? 

My hope and desire is to bring birth back to the community. I hope to lessen, if not eliminate, the barriers for women to have access to midwifery care, whether that be for geographic location, cultural safety or financial strain. Learning that British Columbia does not yet offer birth centers and how vital these are to make birth more accessible, in the future, I hope to be part of advocating for them to be made.  

We congratulate Shayla on this recognition and thank Maija Leivo and Ian Herring for their generosity in supporting the future of midwifery.