Advocates push provincial government for more midwives in New Brunswick

Midwives in New Brunswick are calling on their provincial government to not forget them.

Registered midwives are health professionals who provide primary care to expectant mothers and their babies throughout pregnancy, during labour and the postpartum period.

Advocates say the bond between a midwife and an expectant mother goes far beyond that of just medical procedures.

Midwives provide care for low risk pregnancies while obstetricians are needed to provide care for high risk pregnancies. The bond between a mother and her obstetrician can be very strong as well.

“They have time to talk to you about how you are feeling and about your emotions, and about preparing you for parenthood and I think that’s something that kind of gets forgotten,”  said Madeleine Nickerson, a midwife activist.

Midwives are free in New Brunswick, as they’re covered by medicare. But they’re scarce, and only available in the Fredericton area.

A recent review has found a dire need to increase the number of midwives in Fredericton from four to six full-time positions, as well as increasing the caseload to approximately 215 families a year in care.

“The midwives in Fredericton have attended 98 births now and 28 per cent of those births were home births, so there is definitely a high demand for home births,” said Melissa Langlais, president of the Midwives Association of New Brunswick.

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But the province’s health minister says there isn’t enough interest to warrant adding more midwife positions.

“There are people who wish to operate outside of the system, and that’s certainly their right to do so, but it’s not something that the government can fund,” said Health Minister Ted Flemming.

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2:07 New Brunswick midwives have a new home in Fredericton

With the Campbellton Regional Hospital closing its maternity ward temporarily, the group says this would be a perfect opportunity for midwives to bridge the gap.

But the province doesn’t agree.

“The problem there was a physician shortage and it’s only for one week, and alternative arrangements are made for the nearest hospital to provide that gap,” said Flemming.

“At this time midwives are not something that we will be pursuing,”

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A consultant group will be publishing a report on the evaluation of midwifery care in the province.