Alumna profile: Althea Jones (Midwifery ’13)

Althea Jones (Midwifery ‘13) always wanted to work in healthcare and initially thought she’d become a pediatrician. She earned a soccer scholarship and completed a biology degree on the path toward medical school. After a friend used a midwife and boasted about how positive the experience was, Althea decided that was the type of healthcare provider she wanted to be.

The Pickering, Ontario native and working mother is now founder and CEO of two businesses, Ancestral Hands Midwives and Womb & Wellness, and is now settling into her term as the president-elect of the Ontario Midwives Association. She’s busy in Black equity advocacy in the midwifery field, and wants to show her daughters they can be the change they wish to see in the world.

Tell us about your career path and work in Black equity in midwifery? 

I started my clinical career at Midwifery Care North Don River Valley and worked there for about five years before taking a leave from clinical practice to see how else I could use my midwifery skills. During that time away, some highlights have been mentoring and working with students in TMU’s Midwifery Education Program (MEP). I always try to make time to present to students and mentor BIPOC students because I want to support them along their challenging journey. I also try to spread the word about midwifery care and midwifery as a profession through outreach activities. 

I’ve also focused on how I can use my skills and knowledge to improve Black maternal health and address health disparities faced by the Black community. That led me to creating Ancestral Hands Midwives, a not for profit organization that focuses on access, education and empowerment to improve Black maternal health. It’s definitely been a highlight of my career to take time to really focus on how midwifery can have a positive impact on my community and then create a program with that mission. Through working on this initiative, I’ve connected with other Black midwives and midwifery students which has helped me thrive in the profession. Recruitment and retention of Black midwives is essential to improving Black maternal health and I feel that building community helps. 

I’m really glad that there is an increased focus on equity in the MEP and the greater midwifery community. With an equity focus all students will benefit and be better supported. There needs to be ongoing and conscious analysis of equity, or lack thereof, in midwifery and our healthcare system as a whole. When we apply an equity lens to our work, midwives and clients ultimately benefit. 

You’re also working on a neat tech project to support clinical training. Tell us about it.  

Midwifery HIT2Learn is an innovative pilot project aimed at supporting students and preceptors with clinical feedback. The new tool will help students record their clinical encounters, reflect on their skills and communicate with their preceptors. The tool allows students to quickly collect hundreds of encounters they’ve experienced from multiple preceptors and it assists the student in articulating their evidence. Students use the app to reflect on their learning by answering a series of questions. All of their responses are collected and  students can look back at their previous entries to see how they are progressing with certain skills. Both students and preceptors can observe trends of improvement, decrease implicit bias and subjectivity or uncertainty. This is a new project that is in the early stages and my role is to be a coach and meet with midwives and students to explain the tool and collect feedback. TMU Midwifery program director and professor Karline Wilson-Mitchell leads the equity coaching team. 

Congratulations on becoming president-elect  of the Association of Ontario Midwives. What vision do you have for your term?

I’m very excited to move into the role of president-elect of the Association of Ontario Midwives. I’ve been on the Board of directors for two years and although I initially planned to reapply for my same position, the opportunity for president-elect came up. Although I was hesitant to apply, I knew I had a lot to contribute to that role. I’m appreciative that the membership has chosen me for this position and I look forward to growing and learning in this role. As president-elect, I plan to listen and learn as much as I can. I’m excited to hear the needs and concerns of the membership and to work alongside the current president who was actually one of my preceptors when I was a senior MEP student. It feels like a full circle moment. I’m also aware that as a Black woman in this role I may inspire other BIPOC midwives to, one day, apply for this position. This is a pivotal time in Ontario midwifery that I’m honoured to be a part of as president-elect.

What advice would you give to students in midwifery?

The MEP is not an easy program as clinical learning is difficult, nuanced and it was something new I had to figure my own way through. However, through my time as a student I got to learn from so many amazing midwives and perinatal providers and got to build the skills and knowledge I needed to be a practicing midwife. I would reassure students that they’re meant to be here and that they can do it. I always tell students that clinical learning is hard so they need to be patient with themselves and they should understand that the challenges they have are common for clinical learners. I find it helps when students understand that they’re not alone in their experience and I always try to validate their feelings. I find there can be an initial shock when students enter clinical placement and I really try to encourage them to ride it out and not make decisions about their future in the profession too quickly. I always remind them to celebrate the small wins and to reflect on how far they have come and what they have learned. Sometimes students get so overwhelmed that they don’t realize how well they are actually doing and how much they know, so I always try to remind them of that. My advice would be to keep going. Focus on your learning needs and communicate with your preceptors, tutors, other students and your support system to get through it.