about

Melissa has always loved birth and babies, since she was a child herself. 

Her calling to work with mothers and babies started before she had her own children, (in the 1980’s) and has grown ever since. 

During her own childbirth experiences, she was mentored by two labour-and-delivery nurse friends who supported her from afar.  She had an intuition that this is what she wanted to do one day for other moms…

After being in pastoral ministry with her husband for many years, supporting pregnant and new mothers in her own church, Melissa started “Blessing Births” in 2010 when she became a Certified Labour Doula* to serve the wider community.

*A labour doula is an experienced woman who has been trained to provide physical, emotional and informational support to a woman and her partner before, during and after birth – a “birth coach”.

She has since supported scores of women in the prenatal, birth and post-natal periods.  She has also mentored many childbirth healthcare professionals over the years.

Melissa is an ordained minister and has taken chaplaincy training, becoming a member of CASC – Canadian Association of Spiritual Care.  She has worked in both hospital and home settings, not only in birth, but in Palliative care, Oncology and Alzheimer’s support situations.

With this depth of experience, she is uniquely able to speak into and touch people at “The Bookends of Life”, Birth and Death. Melissa is also a speaker and published author.  She is married to Terry and has 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren.  She calls Grimsby, Ontario, Canada, ‘home’.