Canada –
Through the Badlands with a Midwife

The Canadian Badlands in southeast Alberta – prairies as far as the eye can see, dry and dusty canyons and bizarre rock towers – called hoodoos. A fascinating, seemingly unreal landscape that was once home to the dinosaurs. Only a few, very down-to-earth people live on almost 90,000 square kilometers – including young families. Being a midwife in the “bad country” is more than an adventure.

The Canadian Badlands – inhospitable landscape and endless space. 90,000 square kilometers of hilly, empty endlessness with valleys called Coulées in them, a few scattered towns and villages. Badlands – bad land – was what the settlers called the vast prairie landscape in southeast Alberta. The midwife Terrie Shaw lives and works in the midst of this landscape – driving 250 kilometers to see a customer is everyday life for her. 360 ° -GEO report accompanied Terrie across the Badlands and visited impressive people in a breathtaking landscape.

Midwife Terrie Shaw lives in Medicine Hat, a small town in the middle of the Canadian badlands. Terrie has five grown children herself and her job is a passion. With her radiant smile and her heart in the right place, Terrie is almost always on the go, because her customers often live hours away, far away in the country. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, before the founding of the province of Alberta, the badlands were increasingly populated. The people who came here manage huge farms with just a few people and they love their land: the vastness, the loneliness and the country life. Most of the women here want to give birth to their children at home and appreciate being accompanied by someone they trust. But by no means all of them benefit, because the budget for the self-employed midwife is limited.