OUR ROOTS: PLUM'S FOUNDING MIDWIFE, JOANNE DAVIAU
February 4, 2021
Dear Plum Clients,
This letter is to announce that I am taking a new direction from working as a full time midwife. As one of the first 17 midwives to register in BC, I have enjoyed working as a midwife for the past 35 years in which 23 of these have been working with families in the Comox Valley.
I am ever so grateful to you for giving me the opportunity of being a part of one of the most incredible, life changing journeys. It has been a pleasure and honour to be involved with your care in some capacity during your pregnancy, labour, and birth and postpartum.
As one of the original Plum Midwifery midwives, I am grateful to have worked with incredible colleagues Emma, Sabrina, Jessica, Yarra, Carla and office assistant Regula! This fun and professional team will continue providing quality midwifery care in the Comox Valley. If you need information or access to your records for care I provided to you please contact Regula.
The year 2020 has been a big year for me as I was involved in the births of my two grandbabies, one born in Ontario and the other in BC! In this next chapter of my life, I plan on spending a lot of time with them and my family, getting out in nature, hiking, skiing, cooking, reading and being available to attend births in the role as a second attendant. I did really just say that. Yes, I will keep plugged into the birth world a bit this year.
Thank you again for the opportunity over the last 23 years here in the Comox Valley, allowing me into your lives, for sharing one of the most amazing moments in time. It has been a pleasure and great honour. I’m sure to run into some of you in the community sometime.
With warmth,
Joanne Daviau
PLUM: RIPE WITH POSSIBILITIES
People often wonder how our practice came to be named "Plum Midwifery". The name came to us after a night of brainstorming around a big table surrounded by close friends. We are so fortunate to have our name born out of such a lovely gathering of people who genuinely care about our clients, our clinic and midwifery. Plum has a variety of meanings beyond the delicious fruit most people have a positive association with of summers spent picking in orchards, or enjoying local fruit stands and picnics.
We loved that it also meant “an excellent or desirable thing.” We strive to have your care with us meet such a high standard. In some Asian cultures women eat plums before birth as they are believed to help them through the process of childbearing — making it all the more fitting a name for midwives helping clients in childbirth. Lastly, we liked the symbolic imagery: the round, juicy ripe fruit, much like the round juicy ripe belly of an expectant mother. We felt it symbolized that both our practice and that the clients in our care are ripe with possibilities.