Alberta midwives could help fill rural maternity gaps, but obstacles remain, they say

Alberta midwives are hoping to help ease problems with access to maternity care in rural parts of the province.

A shortage of doctors means maternity patients in some communities can't give birth in their local hospitals.

"It's been heartbreaking,"saidChantal Gauthier-Vaillancourt, one of two registered midwivesin Lac La Biche.

Many patients are travellingtwo to three hours away, to places like Edmonton and St. Albert,to have their babies, she said.

"It's actually unsafe to expect that all women are going to be driving, especially in our winter with the road conditions."

According to Gauthier-Vaillancourt, the community has lost a number of doctors in the last year and a half, and midwives are scrambling to fill in the gaps.

"It feels very overwhelming. Literally, we've been on call 24/7 for years."

There are similar stories in many parts of Alberta.

• Giving birth 100 km away is the new norm for pregnant Pincher Creek patients

"Rurally across the province there is not enough access to midwifery care or, honestly, maternity care," said Stacy Peleskey, a midwife based in Taber.

"In the rural areas, that's where we need to see the growth their hospital might not do deliveries or they don't have any family physicians there that do maternity care."

In Taber, according to Peleskey,they're struggling to keep up with demanddespite the recent addition of new midwives.

Obstacles in place

There are 154 midwives practising across the province.

And the Alberta Association of Midwives is calling on the newly elected government to fulfil a campaign promise to bring in a provincewide midwifery strategy.

The United Conservative Party said its plan would beef up funding for midwife positions, reduce pressure on hospitals and improve care in rural and Indigenous communities.

"That is something we are very much looking forward to working with them to implement that strategy," said Marita Obst, president of the association.

"Even outside of Edmonton, you know Fort Saskatchewan hospital used to have births and was closed often during the COVID-19 pandemic. So it's happening everywhere. But I think the need is most acute in the rural, remote and Indigenous communities."

According to Obst, midwives want to help address the obstetrics shortages but face a number of roadblocks.

"One is that we need more midwives in Alberta. We need increased funding for midwifery in Alberta," she said.

"We have a very large wait-list of people, families who are always looking for midwifery care, and unfortunately just not enough midwives to meet the demand."

The association is hoping to see increased pay for midwives, according to Obst,andhospital privileges in communities where they don't yet have those.

• Doctors worry Lethbridge patients without proper care as obstetrics shortage drags on

In a statement emailed to CBC News, a spokesperson said the provincial government is committed to making midwifery more accessible.

"Although there is demand for more midwives in urban centres, these areas also have an adequate number of maternity care providers to meet current population needs," Scott Johnston, press secretary to health minister Adriana LaGrange,said in an email

"In contrast, many rural and remote areas in Alberta do not have access to maternity care providers, so [Alberta Health Services] is focused on bringing midwives to these regions."

• Demand for midwives still rising in Fort McMurray, Alta.,2 years after first arrived

And AHS is working to identify areas in need of more midwives, he said.

According to Johnston,LaGrange is still in the process of being briefed on her new portfolio and has not yet received her mandate letter from the premier.

"It is anticipated that developing a provincial midwifery workforce strategy will require engagement with all involved stakeholders, including AHS, Covenant Health, Mount Royal University, the Alberta Association of Midwivesand the College of Midwives of Alberta."

LaGrange hopes to meet with representatives from the Alberta Association of Midwives in the "near future," Johnston said.