Newborn babe -- LNN

By Sarah Jones

Midwifery in Southern Alberta: thriving interest and practice in maternal care

Apr 11, 2021 | 8:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB. — Midwifery has been in practice for centuries all over the world. Before the advent of hospitals and obstetrics, it was a midwife who was called upon to deliver babies, particularly on the wide-open prairie, where a nearby doctor was out of the realm of possibility. Frequently, the skill of a midwife was dependent on what she was taught by other women or her own experience as a mother.

While the use of midwives never really stopped, the practice waned in early twentieth century, as many mothers opted for hospital births.

However, childbirth is not an illness that requires a hospital stay and society has witnessed a resurgence in the practice over the past few decades. Modern day, highly skilled midwives have paved the way for natural, at-home birthing. In the 1990’s midwifery became a legally recognized profession in Canada, and it’s come a long way in helping create new education for future midwives.

In order to become a registered midwife, one must complete an in-depth education program from the College of Midwives of Alberta or receive a degree from one of several university’s offering midwife programs across Canada.

Mount Royal University in Calgary is the only school in Alberta that offers a bachelor degree in Midwifery. The four year program prepares students in the growing field of midwifery, and teaches students how to provide care for child bearing women and their families. Only 12 students are admitted every year with 10 per cent of those spots being held for indigenous students.

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Midwifery services only became publicly funded by Alberta Health Services in 2009, since then the service has grown exponentially in the province.

According to the Alberta Association of Midwives there are approximately 150 registered midwives in the province. In Southern Alberta, there are five clinics dedicated to providing woman with the option of having an assisted birth at home, a birthing centre, or a hospital. It wasnt until just recently, 2019, that registered midwives were actually able to maintain hospital privileges.

Lethbridge midwife, Terri Demers, notes they have since assisted in over 4000 births in Alberta.

“It’s been great that we have full access to the Chinook regional hospital and have really good cooperative working relationships with the obstetrician’s and nurse’s there. It’s definitely been a benefit to our clients.”

Terri Demers of the Lethbridge clinic — LNN

In October of 2019, Chinook Regional Hospital added five registered midwives to their maternal health team, giving woman with low-risk pregnancies the option of choosing a registered midwife as their care provider for prenatal, birthing and postnatal care.

Since the start of the Covid pandemic, many woman have been avoiding hospitals and staying at home, to avoid the risk of Coronavirus, and turning to other methods of birthing. The Lethbridge Community Midwives have been asking that woman wanting to apply for a midwife apply sooner rather than later as the demand for midwifery services has grown significantly in the past year.

Demers, a midwife at the Lethbridge clinic says, “About 70 per cent of women have decided to have at-home births in the last year.” That means the delivery of over 180 babies for the Lethbridge area.”

At-home births are recommended for women with low-risk pregnancies, and offer the family a sense of comfort while being in their home environment. Water births are not currently supported by any hospitals in the south zone, which is a key reason as to why people are choosing midwife services.

Jennifer Centola, a client at the Lethbridge Community midwives clinic, has delivered five children with the use of midwives, and says that she enjoys the personal connection she and her midwife are able to create.

“For us, its just more personal care, we really get to know them, they’ve been to my house and know my babies. It’s just about them getting to know you.”

Jennifer Centola and newborn — LNN

Centola mentioned that she started using midwives for her first pregnancy in B.C. “Interestingly, the midwife community is pretty small, so these midwives actually know our Vancouver midwives. It is a sense of community.”

According to the Canadian Association of Midwives in 2019, there were almost 2000 mid wives across the country, but many rural communities in Alberta are still facing challenges with accessing midwife and maternal or birthing care close to home, as many small town hospitals have closed their maternity wards.

Stacy Peleskey, the sole midwife at Cherry Blossom in Taber, confirms midwives in rural area’s are in high demand.

“I would love to have at least one more midwife, and every practice across the south zone right now is advertising for more midwives. We really need more.”

Stacy Pelesky of Cherey Blossom Midwives — LNN

Provincial and local governments have been working with the Alberta Association of Midwives in order to address these issues, and make accessing the services easier in rural communities. Peleskey admits it`s hard having to put people on waiting lists to access midwife care.

“Across the entire South Zone we have a very significant demand for midwifery services, which is great to see, but we have limits on how many moms we can take on. So it is really unfortunate because we have to say no and turn people away all the time.”

From 2017 to 2019 $11 million was invested into midwifery initiatives, but even with funding secured, there is a continued need to negotiate with funders to ensure that midwifery grows in a sustainable way.

There is research to backup the benefits of midwifery.

Th Cochrane Collaboration, a British international charitable organization, organizes medical research findings to facilitate evidence-based health choices and includes 53 review groups that are based at research institutions worldwide.

The group conducts reviews of health-care interventions and diagnostic tests and publishes them in the Cochrane Library. A 2013 Cochrane review found that midwifery-led care was associated with a reduction in the use of epidurals, with fewer episiotomies or instrument births, and a decreased risk of losing the baby before 24 weeks’ gestation.

If you’re interested in showing your appreciation for midwives, International Midwives day is May 5 this year.

Midwives and moms -LNN