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Dr. Rachel Ollivier

Dr. Ollivier's global and local health work has spanned education, research, and practice, with an emphasis on women’s postpartum sexual health.

As a determined and courageous advocate for women’s and maternal health (specifically postpartum sexual health), Dr. Rachel Ollivier is a practicing registered nurse in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia who’s work impacts people both locally and globally. With the spirit of service and dedication within health care instilled in her from a young age, Dr. Ollivier often accompanied her grandmother — who volunteered as a pastoral care provider in Calgary, AB for over 25 years — to the hospital, witnessing the impact she had on patients who were healing from illness. Today, Dr. Ollivier’s global health work has spanned education, research, and practice, having collaborated with local care providers in Zambia to develop updated neonatal fluid resuscitation practice policies, involvement with hypertension research in Zambia and maternal health research in Tanzania, and guest lecturing in graduate-level nursing courses at the Muhimbili University of Health & Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, TZ.

Dr. Ollivier has also co-authored two key systematic reviews exploring global maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, which will help to inform the World Health Organization’s updated maternal health guidelines. She was named a prestigious Vanier Scholar, Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Scotia Scholar, and Killam Laureate for her doctoral work, and in 2022, she successfully completed her PhD in Nursing at Dalhousie University with her research focusing on exploring sexual health after birth using a feminist post-structural lens, spearheading crucial conversations about this topic with media appearances. Dr. Ollivier also created the first patient educational tool in Nova Scotia on sexual health after birth, ensuring that it was relevant and useful for patients while also using gender-affirming language. Dr. Ollivier serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Perinatal & Women’s Health Nurses, a non-profit organization that aims to provide national leadership in women’s and maternal health nursing in order to promote quality clinical care, ongoing education, and research.