Province expands the practising scope of midwives

By Gillian Slade on December 13, 2018.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com @MHNGillianSlade

The scope of practice for midwives in Alberta has been expanded.

Midwives with the appropriate additional training will now be authorized by the College of Midwives of Alberta to prescribe, dispense and administer a wider range of prescription drugs, contraceptives and contraceptive devices and, in a hospital, benzodiazepines and narcotics. Minister of Health Sarah Hoffman made the announcement Wednesday.

Qualified midwives will also be allowed to prescribe and administer vaccines, insert intrauterine contraceptive devices, provide prescription drugs to induce labour and make use of ultrasounds to determine the fetus position.

“It is so exciting. It is allowing us to practise full scope, which is what we’ve been working towards,” said Terrie Shaw, Midwives of Medicine Hat.

Details of additional training requirements and how it will all roll out are not yet available, said Shaw.

Midwives typically have conversations with their clients that include contraception and the need for immunizations for influenza and pertussis, but they have then had to refer them to a public health nurse or a family doctor for the service. The enhanced services will mean midwives can handle it all themselves.

“It’s a one-stop shop, which is what our clients are looking for,” said Shaw.

Details of midwives doing ultrasounds have not yet been revealed. It is also unclear who would provide the ultrasound machine for home births. Shaw says in general more mothers are opting for a hospital birth rather than at home. This was made possible when midwives were granted hospital privileges. Ultrasounds could be provided by the midwife at the bedside in hospital using hospital equipment but this is not clear yet.

“We want to provide Albertans with easier access to maternal and reproductive health services closer to home,” Hoffman said during the announcement. “Expanding midwives’ scope of practice and maximizing their skills enables us to offer more essential services to families in their communities.

“I’m proud to see midwives playing a bigger role in primary health care as well as the journey toward parenthood.”

Midwifery is a safe option for women considered to have low-risk pregnancies with care commencing during pregnancy and continuing after the birth, a press release states.

In 2016 an additional $11 million over three years was announced in the provincial budget for a total of $49 million, a government document states. In the past two years there has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of midwife-assisted births in Alberta and there are 133 midwives practising in the province.

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