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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 regular meetings are officially finished for the summer but there's still lots to do. If you are interested in helping out, drop us an email or call Catherine at 471-1744.
