A trailblazer in expanding midwifery in London and across Ontario is being remembered by her former colleagues and students as a strong mentor and passionate advocate for her patients.
Jane Erdman, a midwife of 23 years and former partner at one of London’s oldest midwifery clinics, died on Oct. 10 at the age of 68. Erdman was among the first graduates of a midwifery education program after it became a registered profession in Ontario in 1994.
“Jane was an incredible powerhouse,” said Diane Meronyk, a registered midwife at Forest City Midwifery C.A.R.E, who was also a student of Erdman’s at the clinic in 2011.
“She was incredibly passionate about providing information and supporting choice for moms in the city. She really loved helping people feel confident in their decisions and stand up to any sort of injustice they felt might be happening to them.”
Erdman was initially a critical care nurse but later pivoted to midwifery. Up until Erdman’s retirement in 2019, she regularly had midwifery students shadow her because of her drive to grow the profession, said Meronyk.
“Jane had a particular gift as a preceptor and there was hardly a time that she didn’t have a student with her. She would mentor these students through their challenges in a way that really helped them build confidence and skills,” said Elana Johnson, Forest City Midwifery’s founder.
‘A strong feminist’
Johnson taught Erdman a midwifery course at Western University, and following her graduation in 1996, Erdman joined her as the first partner at her practice, which at the time was called Womancare Midwives. She said the pair worked closely in the profession in hospital settings.
“Midwifery was very much a feminist-based profession and at the time, women didn’t have a lot of choice in how they gave birth, who they gave birth with and where they gave birth. Midwifery came about because women wanted more choice in maternity care,” said Johnson.
“Jane, as a strong feminist was very powerful to have her passion for caring and working toward equity and rights in maternity care.”
Johnson worked at the clinic as a solo practitioner and said she had to turn away lots of potential clients because she couldn’t accommodate them. When Erdman joined her practice, she was relieved to be able to meet a growing need in the community and doubled the amount of patients it served, she added.
Erdman also sat on a number of provincial and national committees, including winning the Association of Ontario Midwives’ clinical teaching award, and later serving as the board treasurer for the Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM) from 2010 to 2020.
“Her kindness, openness and commitment to making midwifery flourish will be remembered by her colleagues at CAM,” the association wrote in an Instagram post about Erdman.
Meronyk described Erdman as a “night owl” who would always be ready to answer phone calls from her colleagues and students if they never needed help.
Since Erdman’s death, former clients from many years ago have reached out to Meronyk to express the impact she’s had in allowing them to feel more comfortable in their bodies and being confident in advocating for their own health care, she said.
“She was a great guiding light to help confirm that you were doing what was best,” said Meronyk.
Meronyk said the clinic will continue holding a place for Erdman and sharing her legacy with future students. The Children’s Health Foundation is also collecting donations for a midwifery fund in Erdman’s name.
“I’ll remember Jane as a deeply feeling, deeply caring and open-hearted human being who never wanted to stop learning and working hard toward making the world better,” said Johnson.
