Aspen Community Midwives

Based on my experience, I will never recommend anyone to see a midwife. Nor will I recommend Samantha Stupak.I will put it this way - first baby, first time delivering a baby. No guidance and no support. I wonder if things would have gone differently if I had done with my original ob.

I gave birth to a heathy baby boy in sept 2021 and had Sam and Bella as my midwifes for the entire process.I truly enjoyed working with them and felt they were extremely warm and supportive of my choices. I really really enjoyed the midwife process and would encourage those considering it to think about AspenI did not have the perfect birth by any means and ended up having to give birth in the hospital (vs home) and they were SO attentive and prompt on plans and appts etc. I also had to be readmitted with my son to deal with some jaundice issues and they came to my home and assisted extremely promptly with thatThe only small downside was email was the only means of contact in non emergencies but honestly when there was an emergency (which we had to deal with major changes of plans a couple times) they were very very prompt so don’t worry about that at all

This review is mostly for Sam as I saw her while she was practicing elsewhere but as I am nearing the end of my second pregnancy and having to go with a different midwifery group this time around, I just wanted to share how truly amazing she is/was with my first. I wish I still lived in Edmonton so I could have the chance to have Sam again as my midwife. She was absolutley amazing. I had a tough time mentally with my first, my anxiety was horrible! Sam never failed to give me as much information and help as she could and never failed to check in everytime I would see her. She truly cares. Every visit with her was packed full of information about how to sucessfully have an unmedicated home birth, I always felt very confident in my decision even though everyone else around me was telling to just go to the hospital. She truly does advocate for womans rights to choose where they want to birth. Sam loves what she does and you can tell as she carries such confidence with her. I never once felt unsafe in her care. While I was in labor, Sam stepped in when my boyfriend needed a break to help breathe with me and get through contractions, she didnt intervene the entire time I was in labor unless she thought I needed attention. She called to check in when she felt like I needed it, she truly listened when I talked and she never failed to reply to an email. Even when it was something small. When I found out I was pregnant with my second, I almost moved back to Edmonton so I could possibly have Sam as my midwife again. I highly recommend these ladies to anyone thinking about having a midwife as their care provider, you will not be dissapointed!

I was lucky enough to have Kathleen as my midwife for the pregnancy and birth of my second kiddo. Having gone through a GP for my first, I was interested and excited to see how different the experience was.Right from the start Kathleen was welcoming and professional. Throughout my pregnancy she was easy to talk to and provided a ton of information and resources that kept me at ease.At 39 weeks baby developed a irregular heartbeat and Kathleen handled it fantastic. She aired on the side of caution and we went to the hospital for a second opinion. She ensured we were informed of our options and their repercussions, while supporting us each step of the way.When it came to delivery she was easy to get ahold of and the whole process went by as smooth as we could have asked for (even with it being a super fast labor/delivery of only 3 hours).Immediate postpartum was very relaxed and I felt like both baby and myself were really taken care of. Both Kathleen and Sam made sure my family felt comfortable and at ease which I am incredibly thankful for.Overall my midwife experience was amazing. I would highly recommend Aspen Community Midwives, and particularly Kathleen to anyone wanting more personalized care. While I have no real complaints from my first pregnancy though a regular GP and the hospital, I felt this time round I was able to celebrate my pregnancy and Kathleen really cared rather then just being another number. If we decided to have a 3rd I would absolutely go with the Aspen Midwives again.Thank you Kathleen and Team!

Not only is Barbara Scriver an experienced midwife, she's also a kind-hearted person, nurturer and so much more. Her integrity and approachability created a safe space for us during such a precious time in our lives. Everything went great and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the personalized care we all received from Midwifery Care Partners.

Isabella started off to be a very warm and welcoming midwife. But it was soon clear that her intentions of being there for me during my pregnancy were severely lacking. She did the bare minimum to get in contact with me when I had concerns, completely disregard me when I felt like I was having complications, and when approached about it said it wasn't in her regular care duties and said I obviously needed an OB. Not only has she ruined my birthing experience, she's ruined my chance of having a midwife and birth I actually want. I would never recommend her unless your fine with non of your concerns being addressed.

For my first pregnancy I wanted to be under the care of a midwife, but, despite putting my name on the list, I never received a call. During my second pregnancy, when I heard from Aspen Community Midwives notifying me they could take me on, I was thrilled. But my excitement faded when I read a couple of negative Google reviews. I considered declining their offer for care, but I was so interested in going the midwife route after my last birth resulted in an unwanted caesarean, that I gave it a shot, and I’m so glad I did.I was under the care of both Isabella (no longer practicing with Aspen) and Sam, though Sam ended up a much bigger part of my experience as she was the one on call when I went into labour, she was there for my son’s birth, and she did most of my postpartum appointments. I believe that Sam’s support was integral to my achieving the VBAC I wanted. She was warm and compassionate during our prenatal appointments, never making me feel rushed when I had a long list of questions. Our appointments were usually 30-60 minutes, giving us time to review way more than my much-shorter doctor’s appointments in my first pregnancy allowed. There were many small things that I appreciated, like how she didn’t require me to be weighed at every appointment. Frequent weigh-ins at a time when you’re rapidly gaining weight, or perhaps gaining “too slowly” can get in your head unnecessarily.Once we got to the hospital, Sam’s intuition was apparent a number of times, like when I was offered an unwanted wheelchair and hospital gown, she read my mind and declined them for me knowing I was too focused on my body to respond to offers. During the most challenging parts of my son’s birth, I could hear her excitement and encouragement as I progressed. When baby was showing distress, she consulted with an OB to ensure we were all kept safe. And then when baby arrived I heard Sam celebrate that I had gotten my VBAC. After baby was born when there was talk of bringing him to the nursery, she knew that would be painful for us (and that it seemed unnecessary) and pushed to make sure it didn’t happen. Once we got home, Sam visited my house at least twice (maybe three times?) within the first week. It was so nice to have home visits when dealing with a newborn, a toddler, and a recovering body. When I was dealing with nursing challenges, she made recommendations for lactation support that helped tremendously and resulted in a great nursing journey. The whole time she supported me and advocated for my interests. When I look back at my first birth, I often wonder if it could have gone differently, but with my second birth I am left feeling content and satisfied.In reference to the negative reviews that nearly scared me away from Aspen, I am relieved I didn’t listen. I think some of those complaints come from a place of unrealistic expectations that midwives will be on-call all pregnancy long to answer every question, on top of being on-call for the serious stuff. It’s not realistic for a midwife to play the role of primary healthcare provider, doula, and 811 all at the same time. (We certainly don’t have these expectations of doctors.) Midwives give so much of themselves to their work, and Sam is an outstanding example of this.

I had Samantha Stupak as my midwife and I'm not sure exactly why but at some point something shifted and I got a sense like I was just a thorn in her side. I was expecting to have this hands on, welcoming, and involved relationship that you hear about from midwives and unfortunately I dont feel like I got that. I honestly felt like I shouldn't contact her if I could help it and when I did have a question, I had to send it in an email (you can only call a pager for emergencies) and in that email you can't ask anything medical but you can request a call back. They usually took at least 2 days to email back and a call back would take at least that long if at all. Sometimes I would get an email asking if I still wanted a call back..Why not just call and find out then to stop your clients from waiting? I preferred my care with a GP for my last pregnancy because I could call and come in and see them that day if I had a concern, no matter how big or small. As someone who suffers from GAD this suited me much better than the waiting I had to do with this Midwifery. I've seen the term medwife" and this definitely fits Sam as a midwife. I'm not saying this is a bad thing but not necessarily what those seeking midwife care are looking for. I feel it might be her lack of experience but she seemed to lack confidence and if anything outside the potential for a "perfect birth" she will encourage a hospital and lots of assessments at the royal Alex. My wish was to do a birth at Lucina but as the ultrasounds started to show the baby was on the bigger side (in the 9-10lb range) she pushed for the hospital and even started talking about induction at 40 weeks and had me booked right at 41 weeks. I pushed it back as I wanted to give baby a chance and I'm glad I did. I dont see why a midwife would encourage an induction at 41 weeks and not wait until closer to 42 weeks.When I was in labour she wanted to do an assessment when we got to the hospital which I later found out was unusual under midwife care. My contractions were very intense at this point and even a nurse suggested "you're going the wrong way" when we were heading to assessment upon hearing the intensity of my contraction. By the time we were checked in with assessment my contractions were within 2 minutes of each other and as I was walking to the assessment bed she finally decided we could just go to the room without an assessment. When we got to the room she was very hands off and aloof and sat in the other corner quietly as my doula and fiance tended to me. She only came over and acknowledged me when she checked baby's HR and my BP. The birth itself went well baby did get a bit stuck at the shoulders and I will give it to Sam she was able to hook him at the shoulder and get him out quickly without incident. Unfortunately I did hemmorage after delivering the placenta and then my care was turned over to her backup midwife as she had another birth to attend (which I absolutely don't fault her for). I was sent home by the backup midwife within a couple hours (I couldn't even walk to the vehicle). What I do fault her for is when I encountered my 2nd hemmorage at home and we called her she had the nerve to say "Why did you not advocate for yourself and tell them you didn't feel ok"? First of all that is NOT what you say to someone bleeding out on their bathroom floor while waiting for an ambulance. Secondly I did say I felt woozy and it was quite obvious that something was off when I couldn't even walk to my vehicle. I trusted them that this was normal and that I would be ok because I've never hemmoraged before. I couldn't believe she chose to say that to me of all things. No encouragement or positive words to say that I'll be ok or help is coming you'll be in good hands.The reason I gave 2 stars is because she did advocate for me to have my son get admitted back to the hospital with me when they were quite reluctant when treating me for my blood loss. I do appreciate that but it doesn't change how I was treated unfortunately."