Midwifery services now offered in Taber, with plans to expand
By GILLIAN SLADE on December 10, 2020.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade Alberta Health Services has announced that midwifery service is now available in Taber. At present there is one midwife, with plans to recruit another two, said a spokesperson for AHS. Midwives can assist with birth at home or at the Taber health centre. There are currently eight registered midwives working in the AHS south zone, which includes Medicine Hat, Brooks and Lethbridge. In the last year about 3,500 families in Alberta used midwifery services, representing an increase of about 50 per cent in the last five years, according to AHS. Last September, Midwives of Medicine Hat announced that another registered midwife had joined its team. In January 2017 MHRH became the second hospital in the AHS south zone to offer admitting privileges for midwives. Cardston was the first. Brooks offers this too now. 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 19-18
