Another registered midwife means the Hat now has two

By GILLIAN SLADE on October 9, 2020.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade

Another registered midwife has joined Midwives of Medicine Hat.

Ashley Reid, registered midwife and owner, says Hillary Johnstone joined the practice on Sept. 1.

Johnstone is originally from northern Alberta and trained as a midwife in Ontario before deciding to return to this province.

That doubles the number of local midwives in the practice to two, and Reid says the goal is to expand to four.

Requests for midwifery is steady with a waiting list every month, said Reid. Having a midwife can mean more personalized care and choice. It also means continuity of care that the mother can depend on all the way through.

Choosing to work with a midwife does not necessarily mean having a home birth.

Reid says Midwives of Medicine Hat has admitting privileges at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.

In January 2017 MHRH became the second hospital in the Alberta Health Services’ south zone to offer this. Cardston was the first and Brooks now also offers this.

If the services of a midwife in hospital are requested, the midwife handles the birth without an obstetrician as long as the pregnancy is considered low risk and continues to be low risk.

The cost of the midwife delivery in hospital is covered by Alberta Health. As independent practitioners, midwives are not employed or contracted through AHS.

In Alberta midwifery services have been publicly funded since April 2009. The option of a home birth is only available with a midwife. No doctors offer that service.

Sometimes there is still some confusion about the difference between the services of a midwife and that of a doula.

A doula does not need to have specific clinical/medical training and primarily plays a supporting role in helping a mother through the physical discomfort of giving birth.

Midwives are required to have specific recognized training and are primary health-care providers throughout the pregnancy, labour and birth, including consulting with obstetricians when needed. Midwives can order lab work and tests such as ultrasounds. They admit their patients to hospital and discharge them. They have limited prescribing authority and they care for the mother and baby up to six weeks after the birth.

Midwives of Medicine Hat is located at 3096 Dunmore Rd., telephone 403-580-4555.

They also work in partnership with Cherry Blossom Midwives in Brooks and Taber.

Additional information about Midwives of Medicine Hat is available online.

https://www.birthpartnershipmidwives.com/midwives/team/midwives-of-medicine-hat

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