Home > News & Events > Meet Abigail Larson: West Winnipeg’s Midwife Extraordinaire

Abigail looked into the training and learned she wouldn’t be able to take it here in Manitoba. She began her health-care journey with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UBC in 1997 and worked for two years as nurse at HSC Trauma, Children’s burn unit, then as a Labour & Delivery Nurse at Women’s Hospital until 1999. She then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Midwifery from Thames Valley University in 2001, from London, England.

When Access Winnipeg West Primary Care Clinic in St. James was in development, Abigail jumped at the opportunity to consult on behalf of midwives, becoming a part of the primary care team. She then applied for a position there.

In addition to her already extremely busy life, Abigail invests in her profession and volunteers in her community in so many ways:

  • In her personal time, Abigail offers FREE prenatal classes to Manitobans through her church, Crestview Park Free Methodist Church. 

  • She was the Chair for the College of Midwives Perinatal Review Committee for almost 10 years.

  • For the past three years, she has held a position at the University of Manitoba as the Midwifery Program’s Clinical Educator Facilitator.

  • She provides education and tours of the Birth Centre, now known as Ode’imin, to students from Transcona Collegiate Institute.

  • She helps teach normal childbirth drills to medical residents at UM’s Brody Centre.

  • She is an Instructor for WRHA’s Neonatal Resuscitation Program.

  • She is the Coordinator for Folklorama’s Ghana Pavilion.

Abigail has been helping families grow for more than 23 years, while also growing her own family of four children, ranging in age from 10 to 19.

The WRHA prioritizes midwives’ clients according to a number of factors, including young age, Indigenous roots, and newcomers to Canada. In any given year, each WRHA midwife is aiming to serve a patient load of 30 to 36 clients, which can mean the midwife’s own life can take a backseat.

Abigail provides prenatal and postpartum care at Access Winnipeg West and delivers babies at St. Boniface Hospital, HSC Women’s Hospital, Ode’imin (formerly the Birth Centre), and even in clients’ homes. An initial appointment with a new client ideally takes place when they’re 10 to 12 weeks pregnant, which is important for the timing of critical tests like fetal assessments, especially for advanced maternal age.

The result? Positive outcomes.

Compared to patients not working with a midwife, those with a midwife are shown to have a lower likelihood of using narcotics during labour, a lower likelihood of requesting an epidural during labour, a lower likelihood of requiring an emergency C-section, and the greatest rates of success in breastfeeding.

Unfortunately, like most health-care professionals working in our busy system, Manitoba’s midwives are struggling with overload and burnout.

Thankfully, UM’s Rady Faculty of Health Sciences now offers a four-year midwifery degree program with a possible cohort of eight students per year. Abigail says she is hopeful Manitoba will continue to see new grads come out of that program and plant roots throughout the province to grow the profession.

Abigail says her personal mission is to create safe, supportive spaces for families, and she is passionate about giving each baby the best start possible.

“Just don’t ask me to ‘catch ’em all’—I’m a midwife, not a Pokémon trainer!”