Jessica Liauw: Jessica is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist and high-risk obstetrician at B.C. Women’s Hospital, as well as an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. Her research aims to improve the detection and management of high-risk pregnancies and enhance the health outcomes of individuals experiencing imprisonment.

Jennifer Hutcheon: Jennifer is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Population Health at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. She conducts research on how new perinatal health policies in Canada impact the health and healthcare access for pregnant individuals and their newborns.

Fiona Kouyoumdjian: Fiona Kouyoumdjian is a researcher who has worked as a Family Physician in a provincial correctional facility for many years. Her research focuses on the health and healthcare of individuals experiencing incarceration.

Martha Paynter: Martha is the Director of Nursing Research with the Contraception and Abortion Research Team (CART) at UBC and an Assistant Professor at the University of New Brunswick. Her clinical teaching and research focus on reproductive health and the criminal justice system. She is and the founder and former chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice, Canada’s only organization dedicated to reproductive justice for those experiencing criminalization.

Toni Sinclair: Toni is a Cree Metis woman residing in Edmonton, is the Executive Director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Northern Alberta. She also advocates for monitoring conditions and human rights in federal women’s prisons.

I hope to connect the expertise of people with lived experience, community organizations, health services researchers, and policy makers, to find and upscale innovative solutions to reduce health disparities faced by women and gender diverse people experiencing incarceration. By working together, I hope to amplify the dedication, experience, and knowledge held by our community partners, whose perspectives and leadership are critical to promoting health equity in this field.

Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice (PA) in Halifax is the only Canadian non-profit dedicated to improving the reproductive health of criminalized women. It advocates for and provides health services, such as doula support, while conducting research to enhance the health of criminalized women, trans, and non-binary individuals. 

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Northern Alberta (“E-FRY”) is a Canadian non-profit organization that has been an integral part of the community since 1977. Their mission is to advance the dignity and worth of all women and girls who are or may be at risk of becoming criminalized. They provide programs and services in prisons, courts, and the community, and collaborate with other agencies to raise public awareness about the criminal justice system.

Sara Tessier – Sara is a passionate social justice advocate with nearly ten years of experience supporting marginalized and criminalized individuals in Canada. Drawing on her own lived experience, she has collaborated with organizations like the John Howard Society, Elizabeth Fry Mainland Nova Scotia, and Coverdale Justice Society to assist those transitioning from provincial jails, especially during the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leah Morris – Leah, of L’nu (Mi’kmaw) and Inuit descent, proudly embraces her heritage from Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) and currently resides in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia). She previously served as the Coordinator for the Nova Scotia Volunteer Doula Program in collaboration with Wellness Within and has volunteered as one of the few active Indigenous Doulas in Kjipuktuk (Halifax). Leah is committed to sharing her knowledge and promoting learning among youth and communities in Mi’kma’ki, while also advocating for equitable access to health services.

Mirinda Bray – Mirinda Bray has been with Coverdale Justice Society since 2020, where she supports women and gender-diverse individuals navigating the Justice System. As the Family Justice Coordinator, Mirinda assisted mothers dealing with family court issues, including child protection and custody matters, and worked with those who are incarcerated. She later became the House Director of Caitlan’s Place, which offers permanent housing for individuals in the justice system.  

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As members representing the perspective of community organizations, Sara, Leah, and Mirinda contribute their insights to assist the team in identifying health and social factors that researchers should prioritize. They provide feedback on the project results, support knowledge translation efforts, and liaise with community partners and individuals with lived experience to facilitate their active involvement in the project.

In 2024, our team has been focusing on updating a systematic review and creating a critical appraisal summary of existing policies and program evaluations to improve reproductive health outcomes in women experiencing incarceration, as well as developing a “best practices” guide for appraising evidence in this field. Once we have completed these tasks, we will convene a priority-setting meeting to determine targets for future research and create a call to action to address the prioritized service gaps. We will then partner with the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC), the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) to develop a national policy statement and clinical checklist. Finally, we will disseminate our products.

People in prison face significant health challenges, especially with pregnancy and reproductive health. Although describing and measuring these needs is important, we also need to find and apply policies and programs that can help close these gaps. Our Hub will work to find and implement effective solutions to improve reproductive health for those who are or have been incarcerated.