BEAUSEJOUR, Man. – Midwifery will become legal in Manitoba next year, but some women are worried new regional health boards won’t make the service available.
“From some of the consultations that we’ve done in the rural areas, what we’ve heard back from people is they’re concerned with regionalization, as to whether midwifery will be a service that will be provided for them in their area,” said Anessa Maize, a member of the province’s Midwifery Implementation Council.
Health minister Jim McCrae announced in May 1994 that midwifery will become an autonomous, regulated, insured health service. He appointed the council to recommend how to establish the service.
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Maize said the council has approved principles, drafted legislation and determined how midwives would work within the current system. The council also wants to ensure women from across the province have access to the service and the education.
Maize told a meeting of four women in Beausejour, that the council hopes a bill will be read in the legislature in June, and proclaimed as law in January 1997.
It hopes a small group of midwives will be licensed by the spring of 1997. Maize said the initial group will work toward educating or upgrading the skills of others who want to become midwives.
Return to the past
Maize said many nurses working in delivery rooms were trained midwives in other countries and some of them want to return to the vocation.
Council members have traveled to a dozen rural communities to talk about proposals and get feedback from women. Maize said meetings have been small. Less than 20 people have shown up at each of them. However, she said those who have shown up have been keenly interested in midwifery.
“At each meeting we go to, there are more midwives coming out of the woodwork,” said Maize, who is a practising midwife in Winnipeg.
There are now seven midwives working in Manitoba, although the service is not yet legal.
