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When the Midwifery Act became effective in March 2009, several things happened:
• Midwifery became a legal, regulated, publicly funded service.
• It became illegal to practice midwifery without a license.
• Midwifery services became available in three model sites—the IWK in HRM; the South Shore DHA; and GASHA (Guysborough, Antigonish, Strait Health Authority.
What this means for women is that some of us have access to publicly funded midwifery care, but many more don’t.
Right now, the Department of Health is evaluating the process of implementing midwifery in the province. Along with this evaluation, the Midwifery Coalition of Nova Scotia (MCNS) has been asked to collect the stories of women and families who live in parts of NS where midwifery services are not available.
Send your comments or stories to:
All responses we receive by May 30, 2010 will be included in the evaluation.
Women are being told that this delay is to ensure safety, but Canadian and international research has already conclusively shown that planned home birth attended by regulated midwives is a safe and reasonable choice for healthy, low risk pregnant women anticipating a normal birth. However, as Christine Saulnier, Co-Chair of the Midwifery Coalition of Nova Scotia points out: "We were told in March that home births would be available within two weeks after the midwives were hired. Then we were told it would be a few more weeks, and it will be many months. Well, that will be too late for many women and their families. What if women refuse to go to the hospital?”
As Saulnier further says: “Home birth is part of provincially-funded midwifery services and integrated into the health system in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, the NWT and in Nova Scotia. Registered midwives employed in the South Shore District Health Authority have been able to attend home births since April. What is it that makes home birth less safe in the Halifax Regional Municipality?”
The choice to give birth at home is extremely important, and is a pivotal part of midwifery services. Every woman has the right to make informed decisions about where she gives birth, just as she does about all aspects of her health and wellbeing. Women who meet provincial risk criteria and plan a home birth should be encouraged and empowered to do so, instead they face uncertainty and stress.
As Sarah Baillie states "It is an unnecessary stress for me to have to be concerned whether I will be able to have the home birth that I have planned. It is upsetting to think that I may be forced to change my birth plan because the IWK wants to overwrite the policies that hold for the rest of the province and the country. Home birth is safe. There is plenty of evidence to support it and the IWK should stop dragging their heels."
The Midwifery Coalition of Nova Scotia calls on the IWK to live up to its reputation and promises, by respecting women’s values and choices and making home birth services available without any more unnecessary delays. To arrange media interviews, please call Erin Hemmens, Co-Chair of the Midwifery Coalition of Nova Scotia at 422-6429.
The IWK has just posted a notice on their website that their policy on homebirth is in an "approval" process. Have a look for yourself here. What will this mean for women expecting they might finally be able to birth their babies in the safety and comfort of their own home? How long will the delay be?
Write your MLA and congratulate them on their achievement, then bring them up to date on the midwifery issue...
When the Midwifery Act became effective in March, several things happened:
What this means for women is that some of us now have access to publicly funded midwifery care, but many more don’t. This is especially painful for women who have previously had access to midwifery care, but have now lost it because of where they live. Even in the three model sites, it’s unlikely that there will be enough midwives to meet the demand, once women know that the service is available—the government has funded just seven full-time equivalent midwives for the model sites for the next two years.
Several things could be done to make midwifery available in more District Health Authorities. For example:
The Department of Health could assist private practice midwives who are willing to work in unserved areas to pay for the required insurance. The Department could also assist them in the process of getting hospital privileges in the DHA where they would work.
*A private practice midwife would NOT be covered by MSI women will pay for her services out of pocket until the government funds midwifery services across the province.
The Department of Health could establish a timeline for implementing midwifery in all DHAs and offer financial to support to the DHAs to enable them to introduce midwifery.
Now that midwifery is a regulated, publicly funded primary health care service, it should be available to all women in the province. We shouldn’t have to wait years for the DHAs to decide that this service is a priority. It’s a priority now for many childbearing women.
The Act Respecting Midwifery has now been proclaimed. So now we need a plan from the Dept of Health for the expansion of midwifery in NS. Although midwifery services are now covered under MSI, there are only a few midwife positions in only 3 districts.
Read more...
Read the news as of February 2009
The Midwifery Coalition has been lobbying the various governments for more than two decades. But just like labour, there's no sense getting in a hurry when the baby's on the way out.
The Midwifery Coalition believes that midwifery provides the highest standard of care for mothers, babies and families. We believe it is an important part of maternity care and is a choice that should be available to families in Nova Scotia.
We are working to have midwifery accepted as part of Nova Scotia's health system and to have midwifery care covered by MSI.
Our next regular meeting will take place at Jan's home on Shirley Street in Halifax at 12 til 2pm. If you are interested in coming and need directions, please call Catherine at 471-1744 or Jan at 422-6123.
