Friday May 5, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
Midwives are playing a vital role in delivering a distinctive type of health care for women in BC.
Midwives take the full pre-natal and post-natal journey with expectant moms (and by extension their families).
When babies are delivered with midwives in the loop there are fewer C-section deliveries.
Today BC Health Minister Adrian Dix issued a statement in recognition of Midwives Day today, May 5, and the BC Midwives Association has also issued a statement.
BC Midwives are in negotiation with the province for improved pay schedule and other benefits. Almost 70 percent of midwives practice team-based care.
Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, has issued the following statement in recognition of Midwives Day, May 5, 2023:
“Today, we honour the valuable role midwives play in our health-care system, providing quality primary care to growing families during pregnancy, labour, birth and the post-partum period. We recognize and greatly appreciate their adaptability and responsiveness to their clients.
“Midwives deliver more than one-quarter of the babies born each year in B.C., serving diverse families throughout the province, including those in rural, remote and First Nations communities. Their expertise, compassion and commitment help ensure that every expecting parent has access to effective and culturally safe perinatal care.
“Through B.C.’s Health Human Resources Strategy, we are taking meaningful action to retain, recruit and train more midwives. This means more growing families will have access to the care, comfort and support that midwives provide.
“We are also working with the First Nations Health Authority to support Indigenous midwifery through reclamation of Indigenous birthing practices and remote birthing.
“Many people around B.C. have benefited from the empowerment, expertise and support that a midwife provides. To meet the growing demand for midwifery services, the Province has added 20 seats to the University of British Columbia’s midwifery program, encouraging more people to pursue a rewarding career as a registered midwife and enabling more people to access midwifery care as they grow their families.
“On behalf of the provincial government, please join me in thanking midwives for their important work and steady commitment to their clients.”
The BC Midwives Association (BCMA) has issued a statement:
“The Midwives Association of BC is grateful to Minister Dix for acknowledging the important role of Midwives in BC on Midwives Day and committing to meaningful action to grow the profession.
“Midwives are stepping forward every day, caring for more people each year, building innovative healthcare teams, strengthening healthcare systems, and leading the change needed to ensure a healthy future for families and our profession. We are eager to partner with the Ministry of Health in meeting our shared goals for increasing access to safe, skilled, competent care with Midwives and to support reclamation of birth and the growth of Indigenous Midwifery.
“Negotiating a new agreement for BC Midwives is a critical step in this process, one that will have the potential to sustain and grow midwifery in BC for generations to come.”
===== RELATED:
BC midwives negotiating for flexible fair payment (April 17, 2023)
Almost 70% of BC midwives practice team-based care (April 3, 2023)
More midwifery training seats at UBC (February 17, 2023)
===== ABOUT THE WRITER & ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Mary P Brooke is the editor and publisher of Island Social Trends as published daily at islandsocialtrends.ca.
Ms Brooke has been covering politics, business, education and communities through a socioeconomic lens since 2008 on south Vancouver Island (previously as West Shore Voice News, and before that both Sooke Voice News and MapleLine Magazine).
Mary P Brooke followed and wrote extensively about the COVID pandemic during 2020-2022. Among other qualifications, Ms Brooke holds a health sciences B.Sc. She now reports with the BC Legislative Press Gallery.
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