Nadya Burton

Nadya Burton is an Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, and teaches in the Midwifery Education Program at both Toronto Metropolitan University and McMaster Universities. She is the Social Science Coordinator of the Midwifery Education Program Consortium (McMaster, Laurentian and Toronto Metropolitan University Universities).  Between 1996 and 1998, while completing her doctoral research at the University of Toronto (Sociology and Equity Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), Nadya coordinated the Prior Learning Assessment program for the College of Midwives, the program that examined and licensed foreign-trained midwives for practice in Ontario.  She has been teaching in the area of social justice and working across difference in midwifery care since 1999.  Her teaching is primarily dedicated to helping future midwives work competently, compassionately and effectively across differences of class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, ability and language, as well as to thinking critically about midwifery in a broader social and cultural context. Nadya coordinates Admissions to the Toronto Metropolitan University Midwifery Education Program, and sits on the Aboriginal Issues Subcommittee as well as the Curriculum Committee. She is the Midwifery representative to the Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty Association as well as to the Faculty of Community Services Learning and Teaching Committee, she sits on the Genetic Screening Taskforce of the Association of Ontario Midwives and is a member of the Community Council of the Toronto Birth Centre.

• Diversity in the midwifery profession
• Social justice and midwifery
• Sociology of health and medicine
• Genetic testing and informed choice
• Representations of pregnancy and birth in arts and culture

MWF 11A/B: Social Justice in Midwifery

This course draws on perspectives from sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and women's studies to explore the challenges and opportunities of working across differences of race, class, sexuality, ability (and other markers of difference) in midwifery care. The course will focus on developing and strengthening the skills required to work competently and compassionately across social and identity differences among and between midwives, midwifery clients and other health care providers.

MWF 325: Birth and its Meanings

This course explores representations of pregnancy, birth and the postpartum in society and culture, including popular culture and the media and creative arts such as film, literature, visual art, and other cultural expressions.  Social and feminist theory guide the focus on the social meanings and contexts of birth for individuals, families and communities.  Through interdisciplinary exploration, the course encourages exploration of the multiple and diverse social and cultural meanings assigned to pregnancy and birth, both historical and contemporary.  Students are encouraged to reflect critically on the ways pregnancy and birth are represented and understood in diverse contexts and to explore the relationships between representation and the multiple meanings attached to these experiences.

• Burton, Nadya and Rachel Ariss (2014). Diversity in Midwifery Care: Working toward Social Change. Canadian Review of Sociology.  51 (3): 262-287.
• Dixon, Vanessa and Nadya Burton (2104). Are Midwifery Clients in Ontario Making Informed Choices about Prenatal Screening? Women and Birth. 27 (2):  86-90.
• Burton, Nadya. Limited and Limiting Knowledges: Talking to Clients about Prenatal Screening (2013). International Journal of Communication and Health. 2: 12-19.
• Ariss, Rachel and Nadya Burton (2013). The Midwifery Model of Care: Structural Support for Diversity in Health Care. International Journal of Organizational Diversity. 12 (4): 15-23.
• Burton, Nadya and Nicole Bennett (2013). Meeting the Needs of Uninsured Women: Informed Choice, Choice of Birthplace and the Work of Midwives in Ontario. Women’s Health and Urban Life. 12 (2): 23-44.
• Bennett, Nicole and Nadya Burton (2012). Midwives Responding to the Needs of Uninsured Clients: Old Order and New Immigrant Women in Midwifery Care.Canadian Journal of Midwifery Research and Practice. 11 (3): 8-17.
• Burton, Nadya (2012). Book Review: Pushing for Midwives: Homebirth Mothers and the Reproductive Rights Movement (Christa Craven). American Ethnologist. 39 (2): 441-442.
• Burton, Nadya (2010). Book Review: At Work in the Field of Birth: Midwifery Narratives of Nature, Tradition and Home (Margaret MacDonald).Anthropologica 52 (2): 406-408.
• Burton, Nadya and Rachel Ariss (2009). The Critical Social Voice of Midwifery: Midwives in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Midwifery Research and Practice. 8 (1): 7-22.
• Burton, Nadya (1998). Resistance to Prevention: Reconsidering Feminist Antiviolence Rhetoric. In Violence Against Women: Philosophical Perspectives. French, Stanley, Wanda Teays and Laura Purdy, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 182-200.

Forthcoming

• Burton, Nadya. Expecting the Unexpected: Midwifery, Control and the Unknown in a Changing Birth Culture. In Of Indeterminate Birth. Grenzer, Elke and Jan Plecash, Eds. Intellect Press. Accepted and forthcoming, 2015.
• Burton, Nadya. Birth and its Meanings: Representations of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Parenting. Burton, Nadya, Ed. Toronto: Demeter Press. Forthcoming 2015.

Conference Papers

• Diversity in Midwifery Care: Working Towards Social Justice. With Rachel Ariss, SJD. Celebrating Twenty Years of Regulated Midwifery in Ontario: AOM Annual Conference. Toronto. May 2014.
• Continuity and Sustainability: Contradiction or Co-Relation? With Vicki Van Wagner, Sarah Rietkotter, Rachel Rappaport Beck and Julie Kivinen. The Balancing Act: Sustaining Midwifery: Association of Ontario Midwives Annual Conference. Toronto. May 2014.
• Birth and its Meanings: Collaborations in the Creation of Indigenous Curriculum in Midwifery Education. (Plenary) With Cheryllee Bourgeois, RM and Claire Dion Fletcher, RM. Canadian Association of Midwives Annual Conference. Ottawa. November 2013.
• Choosing to Know: Prenatal Screening and Informed Choice. Canadian Association of Midwives Annual Conference. St. John’s. October 2012.
• Recognition, Equity and Difference in the Practice of Midwifery in Ontario. With Rachel Ariss, SJD. Twelfth International Conference on Diversity. University of British Columbia. June 2012.
• Caring for Women on the Margins: Supporting Undocumented and Uninsured Birthing Women. With Nicole Bennett, RM. Canadian Women’s Studies Association: Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Waterloo. May 2012.
• Midwives’ Reflections on Providing Care for Women from Old Order Mennonite and Old Order Amish Communities. With Nicole Bennett, RM. Strength in Numbers – Supporting the Growth of Midwifery: Association of Ontario Midwives Annual Conference. Toronto. May 2012.
• How Is Choice of Birthplace a Different Decision without Health Care Insurance? With Nicole Bennett, RM. Delivering Change – Strengthening Maternal-Newborn Care in Ontario: Association of Ontario Midwives Annual Conference. Hamilton. May 2011.
• Healthcare for Vulnerable Populations: Midwifery Care to Uninsured Clients. With Nicole Bennett, RM. Canadian Sociological Association: Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences. Fredericton. June 2011.
• The Creative Work of Providing Midwifery Care to Women without Health Insurance: Adapting Care to the Needs of Marginalized Communities. With Nicole Bennett, RM. Beyond Boundaries: North American Midwifery Conference. Canadian Association of Midwives and Midwives Alliance of North America. Niagara Falls. November 2011.
• What Does Choice of Birthplace Mean When There is No Choice? Homebirth and Uninsured Clients in Midwifery Care. With Nicole Bennett, RM. The Place of Birth: Canadian Association of Midwives Annual Conference. Edmonton. October 2010.
• Midwifery Care for Vulnerable Populations: Providing Care for Non-Insured Women in Ontario. With Nicole Bennett, RM. Research on Healthcare for the Undocumented and Uninsured: Systems, Policies, Practices and their Consequences. Women’s College Hospital, Wellesley Institute, Faculty of Nursing University of Toronto, York University. Toronto. February 2010.
• The Critical Social Voice of Midwifery. (Plenary) With Rachel Ariss, SJD. The Spirit of Midwifery: Canadian Association of Midwives Annual Conference. Vancouver. November 2007.