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If there ever was a time to write a letter to a government representative, now's the time...
What can you do to bring midwifery services to your community? Or if you live in one of the DHAs with a model site, what can you do to encourage the expansion of midwifery services?
Contact any or all of these and make your voice heard:
Here are some letter-writing ideas.
Government policy determines what services get funded and supported. Let your MLA know that midwifery is important to you and your community. Ask what they plan to do to make this service available to you in the short term-for example, could they advocate to enable women who want midwifery care to travel to another DHA to receive it? Could they urge the government to assist private practice midwives who are willing to work in unserved areas to pay for the required insurance?
In the long term, what can they do to encourage the government to support the DHAs financially to enable them to introduce midwifery?
You'll find contact information for all MLAs at:
www.gov.ns.ca/LEGISLATURE/Members/index.html
If you don't know who your
MLA is, you can look them up on the Elections
Nova Scotia site
Midwifery is being integrated in Nova Scotia as part of an overall expansion of Primary Health Care. Ask the same questions as you asked your MLA: Is there anything the Department could do in the short term as a show of good faith and concern for these women who don't have access to midwifery care-for example, allow women to go to another DHA for midwifery services or provide funds to cover liability insurance for private practice midwives who want to practice in non-model site areas?
And in the long term, what can the government do to support the DHAs financially to enable—and encourage—them to introduce midwifery?
The Department of Health's own information about Nova Scotia's Primary Health
Care Plans and midwifery implementation is posted at:
gov.ns.ca/health/primaryhealthcare/
You can contact Minister of Health,
Honourable Randy Delorey
Department of Health and Wellness
17th Floor, Barrington Tower
1894 Barrington Street
P.O. Box 488
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 2R8
Phone: (902) 424-3377
Fax: (902) 424-0559
E-mail: health.minister@gov.ns.ca
The Midwifery Regulatory Council is the body that governs the profession of midwifery in Nova Scotia. Among its members are three public representatives who are there to represent the views and needs of women across the province. Contact the MRC and ask what their plans are for encouraging the government to expand midwifery services and make midwifery a sustainable profession and a service that’s available to all Nova Scotian families, not just the lucky few who live near a model site.
The Chair of the MRC is Anne Jackman
anne.jackman@gov.ns.ca
The Midwifery Coalition of Nova Scotia has been working for over 30 years to have midwifery accepted as part of Nova Scotia's health system and to have midwifery care covered by MSI. Legislation is a big step forward and in the long term, a very good thing for women, babies and families.
We’ve worked hard to get this far but we’ve still got a way to go before midwifery services are available to all and accepted as an everyday part of maternity care in our province.
Write those letters, then come join us.