Your Prenatal Educators

Sarah is a professional educator and advocate, originally from Vancouver Island with strong ties to the Nanaimo community. Her interest in supporting families started young when she worked as a nanny both in Canada and overseas. Travel took her around the world, but she returned to her island home to raise her own two kids.

Sarah is a highly skilled group facilitator and has provided prenatal education and parent support with Journey of Birth since 2007. She strives to support families to be well equipped to handle birth and early parenthood while building community and connection through prenatal education. Over multiple years of experience and continuing education, Sarah custom-built a course in prenatal preparation that is evidenced based with a focus on resilience, coping skills, and practical information.

Since 2005, both in non-profit organizations and self employment in Canada and overseas, Sarah has worked in advocacy and education. As a birth doula, Sarah attended dozens of births and has supported even more families through their adjustment to parenthood as a postpartum doula and breastfeeding counsellor. Sarah's research focuses included prevention of childbirth trauma, breastfeeding support and education, and preventative approaches for postpartum wellbeing and parent thriving.  Sarah also works in conflict resolution as a mediator and negotiator, and as Students' Advocate at Vancouver Island University Students' Union.

When Sarah is not teaching with Journey of Birth or working in conflict resolution, she's most often in the kitchen making something delicious, spending time with her kids and pup, or swimming long distances in the ocean or lake.

Sarah is a prenatal educator, counsellor and has many years of experience as a birth doula.  Originally from London, England she has lived on Gabriola Island for 18 years. Her interest in supporting families during pregnancy, birth and postpartum started when she had her own children. It was these births which inspired her to train as a birth doula through DONA international. After many years and many attended births, Sarah found a calling and passion in counselling. Sarah is now a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor Candidate with ACCT and sees individuals and couples from her private practice in Nanaimo. 

Sarah adores teaching Prenatal and Baby Care classes with Journey of Birth, her classes are dynamic and fun and she strives to support and connect with parents in her groups while giving them practical information. She understands the uncertainty which arises when entering the unknown territory of birth and hopes to support families with calm intuition and evidence-based knowledge. 

When she’s not teaching with Journey of Birth or working as a counsellor, Sarah can be found in the highs and lows of raising her own children, hiking, swimming in all seasons and making a really good curry!