Midwives and home births are legal in Alberta and their association hopes to see its members granted hospital privileges this fall.
Joanna Greenhalgh, president of the Alberta Midwives Association, said the Calgary Regional Health Authority will grant hospital privileges by September and from there the other 16 regional health authorities are expected to follow suit.
“We expect hopefully this year all the midwives will have hospital privileges and all the midwives will have access to diagnostic services so clients won’t need to see a physician to get routine blood work done,” she said.
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Home births are allowed providing the mother and baby are low risk. Yet even among those who are diagnosed as high risk patients, a midwife may still attend to coach the mother during labor and provide information about what to expect.
In Alberta, midwifery is not covered by Alberta Health. The client is charged $2,000 for pre- and post natal care.
Next year midwives and all other health-care providers will be governed by a new health professions act. Under this act, deliveries will be restricted to doctors and midwives to ensure the safety of the mothers and their babies.
Another welcome change is doctors’ attitudes.
“There’s still some physicians who view us as competition,” said Greenhalgh. “As long as we’re not publicly funded and our numbers are low, that won’t be such a problem.”
There are 30 members in the Alberta association and 22 are registered midwives.
There are registered midwives at Fort Smith on the border of the Northwest Territories and in Alberta at Canmore, Rolling Hills, Rocky Mountain House, Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton. Most midwives are willing to travel to rural areas but the distance depends on caseload.
“If we were in a rural setting, sometimes the client chooses to come to the urban setting,” said Greenhalgh. If there is an emergency the mother and baby are closer to facilities.
Midwives are allowed to handle 40 primary cases and 40 cases as backup midwife each year. During the birth there are two midwives. One person takes care of the mother and one looks after the baby.
To be certified as a midwife in Alberta, people must register with the province. If they appear to meet the requirements, they must provide a portfolio outlining education, experience and references. The next step is a multi-faceted test that covers practical, oral and written material to determine whether they meet the requirements as practitioners.
Midwives are allowed to do procedures like episiotomies but only obstetricians may use forceps for an instrument birth.
