Meet the Board

Althea Jones, RM, HBA, BHSc

President

Althea Jones is a registered midwife with 10 years of experience. For Althea, maternal health is much more than a career, it’s a passion and a calling that she has dedicated herself to. She has taken a leave from clinical practice to found Womb & Wellness, a network that addresses the gaps in maternity care by helping clients connect with complementary services, resources and support. More recently, Althea launched Ancestral Hands Midwives, a non profit organization with a mission to improve the outcomes and experiences of Black people during the perinatal period. Althea completed her Bachelors of Health Science in midwifery from Toronto Metropolitan University and prior to this, she earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology from the University of Arizona where she attended on a soccer scholarship. In her spare time Althea enjoys learning new skills, traveling (pre covid) and spending time with her family which includes her two amazing daughters who were both born at home into the hands of midwives.

Bounmy Inthavong, RM

Vice President

Bounmy is a 2015 graduate from the McMaster Midwifery Education Program. She comes to the AOM Board as a new member in 2018. Much of what shapes Bounmy today has evolved from a young age as a first-generation Lao refugee discovering the inequalities of being a woman. As a midwife, Bounmy seeks to provide an individualized approach to care that ensures a safe and supportive environment that empowers clients and their families. She believes that all people have the right to dignified and respectful care regardless of cultural, social or economic circumstances. Bounmy is grateful for all the midwives she has worked alongside and the many families that she has cared for in Windsor-Essex County, Waterloo Region and Peterborough. Prior to midwifery, Bounmy completed her joint Bachelor of Science in Biology and Geography from the University of Waterloo. During her spare time, Bounmy enjoys testing her culinary pallet, back country camping and making desserts for family and friends. 

Natasha Singleton-Bassaragh, RM

Secretary

Natasha is a registered midwife from Peel Region who is in her 2nd term with the AOM board. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from York University, as well as her Bachelor of Science in Midwifery from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Natasha’s enthusiasm for obstetrics is centered on empowering new parents to be confident in their ability to not only carry a pregnancy, but to birth their families, and parent them successfully with the knowledge and instincts that they inherently hold within.

She is also motivated to maximize the retention of knowledge and skills, and reduce the brain drain in Ontario midwifery, that is due to the attrition of midwives who are ill or have been injured. With a lens on equity for disabled midwives, Natasha is confident that we can create spaces for our colleagues who have had to leave clinical practice for these reasons but still wish to have a career in midwifery. Natasha is a past midwifery client whose son was caught by the welcoming hands of her husband, as guided by the wise and skillful hands of their midwife. She is looking forward to continuing her work on the AOM board in the coming years.

Sofia Al Balkhi, RM

Treasurer

Sofia is an immigrant settler who has been a practicing midwife since 2019. She deeply values the importance of decreasing barriers to access and working with families to create positive birth experiences and enhance their transition to parenting. As an Arabic-speaking midwife, she has a strong interest in health equity and providing culturally appropriate care. Through her masters, she has started exploring experiences of racism, mistreatment and obstetric violence. Sofia has previously worked in mental health research. She is interested in using her clinical and research experiences to positively contribute to the AOM Board. During her off-call time, Sofia loves to spend her time reading and exploring new hiking trails and waterfalls.

Tewahséhtha Brant, IM

IMAC-designated Member at Large

Tewahséhtha (Miranda Brant) is a Mohawk Nation Turtle clan woman, wife and mother of two beautiful girls. She is an Onkwehón:we midwife practicing under the exemption clause of 1991 in Tyendinaga Mohawk territory at Kenhtè:ke midwives. After apprenticing under some of the best Indigenous midwives for 10 years, Tewahséhtha graduated in 2021 and is now helping to support and educate the next generation in their journey to becoming midwives.

Tammy Roberts, RM

IMAC-designated Member at Large

Tammy is a Registered Midwife of Anishnaabe and mixed European ancestry. She is a Laurentian University MEP graduate who has worked as a solo midwife in rural northern Ontario for the majority of her career. After completing her new registrant year with the Midwifery Group of Ottawa, she did locum work in Nunavik for eight months while refining her new practice application and lobbying stakeholders.  She started a new practice in 2013, which services her hometown and surrounding areas through both a midwifery practice group and, in collaboration with the North Shore Tribal Council, the later addition of an Indigenous midwifery practice. Tammy provides service to four Indigenous communities, an Amish and a Mennonite community as well as the small city of Elliot Lake and the surrounding small towns and townships. Tammy works in a unique model, travelling throughout her catchment area to see clients in their own homes or at health access centers for all prenatal and postpartum care. Tammy deeply values autonomy, informed choice and choice of birthplace, as well as the privilege of attending births for her community. Tammy is a director on the AOM Board as well as on the board of Elliot Lake Women’s Group, a governance board responsible for the men’s and women’s shelters in Elliot Lake.

Pilar Chapman, RM

Member at Large

Pilar lives and practices in the Niagara region of Ontario. Her family are settlers who lived along the Northumberland shores of Nova Scotia, and she is a graduate of the TMU Midwifery Education Program (Class of 1999). After graduation, she settled in Niagara, a community that has become her second home. Alongside a small group of dedicated colleagues, she helped establish midwifery services in the region, growing from just three midwives at the start of her career to more than forty today.

She works primarily at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (WLMH), a Level I B site within Hamilton Health Sciences. As a Level I B centre, WLMH provides care to low-risk pregnant people. Pilar is deeply committed to sustaining birth in smaller community hospitals and ensuring that families continue to have access to safe, local, relationship-based care.

A significant focus of her professional work is the integration of midwives into the broader healthcare system in ways that address the profession's alarmingly high attrition rates. She currently serves as a hospitalist midwife at WLMH, where hospitalist midwives provide care to all patients presenting to the unit and collaborate closely with each patient's primary provider. Her goal is to see hospitalist midwifery become part of the solution that supports obstetrical providers, including community midwives, to remain in this work. She believes the profession must find new models of care that protect sustainability without compromising the core values of midwifery in Ontario.

These commitments are what motivated Pilar to join the AOM Board. She looks forward to contributing to the profession's collective efforts as it navigates the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Rocio Velasquez Guzman, RM

Member at Large

Rocio (Roh-see-oh) is a Mestiza Quechua midwife born, raised and displaced from herhomelands in Peru. Rocio is an abolitionist, a reproductive justice advocate and for the last 25 years has found a home in the Dish With One Spoon territory in Tkaronto.

Rocio is a Registered Midwife working with her Indigenous relatives at Seventh Generation Midwives in Toronto. She is a proud NCIM member, and a sessional instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Simone Griffith, RM

Member at Large

Simone graduated from the McMaster Midwifery Education Program (MEP) in 2004 and has 21 years of full scope as a midwife in Ontario. In that time, she has seen the diversity in midwifery grow significantly in the MEP student and midwifery community.

Simone holds a Master of Science degree and is passionately interested in health disparity research. In 2024, she helped design e-learning education modules for the Sickle Cell Education Program for Healthcare Professionals, with a focus on sickle cell screening in pregnancy.

Simone is currently a member of several health and MEP related committees, including the BORN Neonatal Working Group committee. She is also actively involved in interprofessional committees at Hamilton Health Services.

Simone is proud to serve as an AOM Board Director in support of the midwifery community.

Maisha Ahmed, RM

Member at Large

Maisha is a registered midwife who graduated from the McMaster Midwifery Education Program in 2023. This is her first term serving on the board of the AOM. She values an equity-driven approach to care and is passionate about reducing the systemic barriers that many communities across Ontario face in accessing healthcare services. She is also interested in exploring changes within the profession that support retention, reduce burnout, and create alternative pathways for midwives to continue providing care throughout different stages of their careers. Through her Master’s studies in Health Quality, Maisha is developing a broader systems-level understanding of healthcare, with a focus on patient safety, quality improvement, risk reduction, and sustainable healthcare delivery. She hopes to bring this perspective to the AOM by supporting thoughtful and sustainable changes that strengthen the profession and improve care for both midwives and the families they serve.

Jasmine Benedict, IM

Member at Large

As a Mohawk woman from Akwesasne and a Mother, Jasmine’s journey to midwifery was never easy. She faced racism, discrimination and the ongoing impacts of intergenerational trauma that continue to shape Indigenous communities. For her, midwifery wasn’t just a career choice—it felt necessary. It started as a quiet realization and grew into something she couldn’t ignore: her community needed more options, more support and more representation.

Her midwifery journey has been intense and deeply transformative. It pushed her to her limits, broke her down, and made her question everything she thought she knew. In the process, she discovered a strength she didn’t know she had. She learned how to walk with others through their most vulnerable moments, while also tending to her own healing and the healing that must happen across generations.

Practicing midwifery within her community looks very different from other models.  There’s no structured “time off” in the same way, since relationships and responsibilities are woven into daily life. These are traditional roles that carry deep meaning and require deep commitment.

This work is personal, and she carries it forward with love, intention, responsibility and hope for the future of Indigenous midwifery. Jasmine is honoured to bring this perspective to the AOM Board and to work alongside others committed to equity, cultural safety and the future of midwifery in Ontario.

Camélia Hamdaoui, RM

Member at Large

Camelia is a Registered Midwife with over 14 years of international experience, having practiced in North Africa (Tunisia) and in the Middle East (Qatar). She attended Toronto Metropolitan University in Toronto, where she completed the International Midwifery Pre-registration Program (IMPP). Since 2021, Camelia has been practicing in Ottawa with the East Ottawa Midwives, providing comprehensive, evidence-based, culturally sensitive care throughout pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. Fluent in Arabic, French and English, Camelia is committed to supporting diverse communities through accessible and respectful midwifery care.

Madeleine DeWitt

Student Member at Large

Madeleine is a student midwife in her third year of the Midwifery Education Program at McMaster University. She has wanted to be a midwife since the beginning of high school and was privileged to begin attending births as a teenager, quickly feeling called to work in the world of pregnancy, birth, and gynecological care. She enjoys engaging with current midwifery research and hopes to continue to be involved in health research after she finishes her midwifery degree. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the AOM board and for the incredible professors, clients, midwives, and other mentors that have supported her education and practice as a student midwife.