Why Midwifery?

Midwives are trained health care professionals. In fact, they are primary health care providers. In a healthy pregnancy they can provide all prenatal care. They follow a woman for her entire pregnancy, attend the birth, and provide follow-up care for the six weeks post partum. In provinces where midwifery is a legislated, regulated, publicly funded profession, midwives have hospital privileges and work as part of the health care team.

As with other healthcare professionals, midwives see clients for regularly scheduled visits during pregnancy. Unlike other health care professionals, however, visits with midwives last between 30 and 60 minutes. This allows the midwife and her clients much more time to become familiar with each other and enables the midwife to better understand the unique needs of her clients. Midwifery care also allows for the option of home birth.

Studies conducted regarding the role of midwifery in pregnancy and childbirth have consistently found that midwifery offers numerous benefits for both mothers and babies. The number of interventions during labor and delivery are reduced, breast feeding rates are better, and post partum depression rates are lower. How can the government deny women in New Brunswick these benefits?