Queen's University student named among the most influential women of 2023

A student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. has been named among the top most influential women of 2023.

The award is for her tireless work to improve the lives of women surrounding pregnancy. 

At just 28-years-old, Rachel Ollivier has been a registered nurse, earned her doctorate, and now, can add influential women to that list.

"I was in such shock when I found out," Ollivier said.

The student studying to become a nurse practitioner at Queen’s has been named as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence, named for her work in the field of global maternal health. 

"What is important in terms of postpartum wellbeing, I saw the topic of sexual health postpartum as being a gap that in some small way I have been able to bridge," Ollivier explains of her work.

Women of Influence+ is an international organization that focuses on gender equality in the workplace and woman’s advancement. Ollivier beat out hundreds of nominees from across Canada and the United States to win the award.

In a release, Women of Influence+ says among other things Ollivier won for her work co-authoring research, which will help shape the World Health Organization's latest maternal health guidelines, and her research in both Tanzania and Zambia. 

Ollivier says she learned a lot there.

"That cultural context there is also focused on community and I think that’s something that we could use here," Ollivier explains. "Having those sorts of supports built in, and really valued and prioritized in health care."

Ollivier's PhD supervisor at Dalhousie University, Megan Aston, said she nominated her because of her impact on perinatal health.

Rachel is passionate about nursing and her focus on caring for childbearing people has led her to travel the globe, complete her PhD, publish articles, give presentations, develop educational material, work in clinical practice, volunteer at numerous organizations, sit on different boards, obtain numerous prestigious scholarships, and enroll in a nurse practitioner program," she said in an email.

On International Women’s Day, Ollivier says work must continue to understand deaths associated with pregnancy. 

"A lot of maternal deaths are not necessarily investigated or reported in ways that are more accurate, so we’re seeing changes in other countries in terms of having more accurate statistics. And in Canada I think that is something that we could improve," she says. "Becoming a parent, or becoming a mother should not be something that threatens your life, it should be something that’s a positive experience."

Other big names like Canadian soccer and Olympic star Christine Sinclair will also be honoured.

For Ollivier, when she officially receives the award at the gala in Toronto on April 4, it will be a big moment in an already big career, that is not done yet.

"It’s such a profound honour," she says. 

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