Meet The Team
Get to know our Health Care Professionals
Becky Douglas, MOA
She/Her
Becky, a proud mother to her beautiful son, has a strong passion and love for working with the amazing team at Sage Community Midwives.
After receiving her Bachelor of Tourism Management from Vancouver Island University, Becky was able to gain much experience in customer service and administrative rolls in the tourism industry. Feeling a strong pull for change, she moved with her partner to the maritimes, and eventually that strong pull called her home.
Once back on Vancouver Island, Becky found the opportunity to go back to school, and obtained her Medical Office Administration certificate through Sprott Shaw College. This program brought her to our team, where she has found her passion for working in the maternity field. She looks forward to being a part of your journey!
Tamara Cowan, RM, IBCLC
She/Her
Tamara brings over 20 years of experience working with birthing women and their families to her new home at the Sage Community Midwives. Originally trained as a registered perinatal and NICU nurse, Tamara has also cared for families as a birth and postpartum doula, and as a lactation consultant (IBCLC). It was during the pregnancies and births of her two children that she came to understand how midwifery care can encourage women to envision their “best births” and then support them in achieving that goal. So in 2008, it was back to university to retrain as a midwife and since graduating in 2011, she has been working in solo practice caring for women in her home community on Gabriola Island and also in Nanaimo. Tamara understands that the journey to motherhood begins the moment a woman discovers she is pregnant and that birth is about more than making a baby; its about making a resilient and confident mother who is ready for the joys and challenges of parenting. When not doing “midwife stuff”, Tamara enjoys spending time outdoors with her family on Gabriola Island.
@hannahandersonphotography_
Jessa Miyashiro, RM
She/Her
Jessa grew up in Nanaimo and felt drawn to become a midwife after completing her Bachelor of Science in Biology at UBC. While living in Vancouver, she worked in leadership development, science research, childbirth education, and as a birth doula. Through the UBC Midwifery program, she was lucky to complete most of her training in Nanaimo, learning from the midwives, nurses, and doctors who are now her colleagues.
Jessa is passionate about supporting each family member to transition to their new role with love and confidence. She has a special interest in herbal medicine, and spends most of her time outdoors enjoying our beautiful island.
Yvanne Faught, RM
She/Her
​Originally from the Cowichan Valley, Yvanne left for Ontario and completed a degree in Women’s Studies and French Literature at Trent University. It was there that she first discovered her interest in Midwifery. Eventually she applied to the Midwifery Education Program at McMaster University and received a Bachelor of Health Science in Midwifery in 2005. Upon completion she moved to Kingston, ON and worked in a midwifery practice for two years. However, the pull to come back to the Island was strong and in 2008 she returned to the west coast. Since she started her journey into midwifery her enthusiasm for the profession keeps growing and It is with the support of her life partner as well as her three children, all born with the assistance of midwives, that allows her to be there for families during such a significant time in their lives.
Morgan Reid, RM
She/Her
Morgan grew up on Gabriola Island, and is excited to be able to serve her home communities as a midwife. Before becoming a Midwife through the UBC Midwifery program, she completed a degree in Kinesiology through the University of Victoria. She is passionate about equitable healthcare, physical and emotional well-being, and the importance of life-long learning. In her free time, Morgan is an avid reader, camper, and enjoys spending most of her time outdoors with her lab x golden retriever pup!
Emma Pitman, RM
She/Her
Having moved to Nanaimo originally to attend school over 10 years ago, Emma is thrilled to continue working in this community. She first discovered midwifery during her first degree studying sociology and anthropology. Emma is passionate about supporting birthers in a holistic, family centered way. Emma was fortunate to be placed all across BC during her training at UBC including Nelson, Duncan, Ladner, and Vancouver. In addition, her passion for global maternal health took her to Nepal for 6 weeks with the UBC midwifery global program. She looks forward to getting to know you and your family on your unique journey.
Dorothy Gilbert, RM
She/Her
*on Parental Leave*
​Before becoming a midwife, Dorothy was passionate about birth and attended births of family members and clients working as a doula, and briefly as a Pregnancy Outreach worker at Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology at VIU, often focusing on the childbearing years, she continued down her path to attend Ryerson University in Toronto. After completing her degree in 2020, as the Covid pandemic began, she returned to BC to begin working in Parksville/Oceanside. After her own first pregnancy, and homebirth in 2022, Dorothy feels strongly about providing the support to clients that she experienced from her own colleagues, and grateful to have found her place working in her home community of Nanaimo.
Chrissy Neilson, RM
She/Her
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Chrissy decided to become a midwife after having two children with midwives and discovering the importance of informed choice in healthcare. She was originally trained as a registered nurse specializing first in emergency and then in perinatal. Her whole family moved to Toronto so she could attend the Midwifery Education Program at Ryerson University and she continued to work in Toronto for one year prior to returning to BC.
As a Nisga’a Citizen, and after working in healthcare for many years, Chrissy feels strongly about improving care to Aboriginal People. She feels extremely lucky to have had the privilege to be able to become a midwife and to be able to provide care to people at such an amazing time of their lives.
Leah Gold, RM, CFNC, MA
She/Her
Leah is a Registered Midwife licensed with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives. She graduated from Ryerson University and has called Nanaimo her home since 2013. Prior to becoming a midwife, Leah did her Masters research in the Peruvian Andes, looking at traditional medicine and women’s health. This is ultimately what led her to becoming interested in midwifery. Shortly after the birth of her first son at home with midwives in Vancouver, she witnessed connections with her previous research in traditional medicine in South America with birth culture in North America. Since then she has been passionate about accompanying parents into the rite of passage that birth is. She currently practices Functional Maternity & Nutrition, offers locum coverage for the Nanaimo community as well as working as a in-house Midwife at Victoria General Hospital. She feels constantly amazed and privileged to be on this life-path and looks forward to working with you!
Rebecca Vincent, RM
She/Her
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Biography to come :)
Maggie Thomson-Kurz, RM, Locum
She/Her
*Currently covering Dorothy's Parental Leave*
After doing a degree in psychology and theatre, she realized her passion was to be involved in one of people's most transformational times, childbirth. After working in women’s shelters and yoga studios and spending ample time backpacking, she moved to the big city and graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2022. She began to practice midwifery in downtown Toronto and feels blessed to have had the privilege of working in one of the oldest registered midwifery practices in Canada and alongside many skilled midwives and obstetricians at Mount Sinai Hospital. Maggie’s work as a midwife is grounded in passion for empowerment through bodily processes. Her hope is that she can be a light through the mystery of pregnancy, birth and postpartum for her clients. Her belief in normal and low risk birth supports her clients to trust the process and their instincts. She is so thrilled to be back on Vancouver Island and explore Nanaimo. When not working you might find her at the local farmers market, swimming at the river, paddleboarding the ocean or having a beer at the brewery. Her goal is to keep the process of birth fun, informed and to remove as much fear as possible.
