CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Megan Burnside has been waiting for this announcement for years.
That's why she was so pleased to hear the provincial government, for the first time, is providing funding to bring midwifery to Island residents in 2020.
The announcement came on Monday, Dec. 2, from Health Minister James Aylward.
“It is very exciting that midwives are coming to P.E.I.,” said Burnside, a member of BORN - P.E.I.’s midwifery advocacy group.
“It is very important that we join the rest of the country and have this service that families have been asking for, for ages.”
With two children of her own, Burnside said she has experience with doulas and said it is helpful to have care providers who offer more holistic options for post and pre-natal care.
Things like home birth and more family-centred care can be provided through a doula and a midwife.
Burnside explained that part of the pillars of midwifery are to empower and educate families to make informed choices.
“Consent and continuous care provider… all those things help people have a positive experience and process in pregnancy, childbirth and post-partum periods,” she said.
“It is all about support for that specific family, and that results in a more positive overall experience and a better outcome. And research has shown that.”
Having the choice between an obstetrician, family doctor or a midwife is important, she said, and the option of staying at home as opposed to travelling to a hospital can make a difference a birthing and family experience.
“I think midwives have special training and are a special niche we currently don’t have on the P.E.I, professionals in normal birth, so I think we need to bring them in to completely our health-care system where there’s definitely a hole,” she said.
“It is very exciting. People having been waiting a long time for birth options here in P.E.I., and I think P.E.I. is going to really benefit from learning from the rest of the country.”
-Nathalie Pambrun
Nathalie Pambrun, president of the Association of Canadian Midwives, was the on the Island speaking to Aylward about the new funding.
“It is very exciting,” said Pambrun. “People having been waiting a long time for birth options here in P.E.I., and I think P.E.I. is going to really benefit from learning from the rest of the country.”
The Island has an opportunity to create a more seamless process, she said, integrating midwives and doulas into its health-care system.
Continuity and knowing a care provider are some of the more attractive reasons Islanders might want a midwife and doula instead of an obstetrician or gynecologist.
“I think that there is a culture shift, a change that is happening, and part of it is that there are people who don’t want a medicalized birth experience,” she said.
Pambrun said there has been a rise in C-section rates with P.E.I. sitting at around 30 per cent, double the range recommended by the World Health Organization.
“I really believe in using the right care provider at the right time, and midwifery has some of the best outcomes and high client satisfaction rate.”
Even if residents choose a hospital birth, they can return home with continued care, she said.
BENEFITS TO RURAL, INDIGENOUS POPULATION
For rural areas, midwifery can be an advantage for residents who cannot easily get to a close hospital or for doctors who stay primarily at hospitals.
Midwifery also has huge benefits to the Island’s Indigenous families who may be affected by generational traumas. A midwife can step in and allow for healing bonds between family members, said Pambrun, allowing for sovereignty for those communities over birth.
“We want to see an Indigenous midwife in every Indigenous community because we believe that is core to the health of that community,” she said.
With P.E.I.'s new found commitment to midwifery, Pambrun said a strong foundation can be laid for the future.
“It is just very exciting, and the country’s been waiting and watching for a Canada that is complete in this endeavour of providing more natal care to its most rural areas and cities.”
