Growing demand for midwives in northern Ontario

Kyla Boiteausays she first became interested in midwifery after watching her sister give birth to her nephew, when Boiteau was just 19years old.

Now the first-year midwifery student from Manitoba is studying what she calls her passion, at Laurentian University in Sudbury.

Boiteau is one of just 30 students who were accepted into the program last fall. Only two other schools in Ontario McMaster and Ryersonoffer similarly sized midwifery programs.

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Midwives follow women throughout their pregnancy, labour and then provide care after the birth.

More and more expectant moms choose midwivesto help them during their pregnancy and delivery.

That means increased demand for those professionals.

There are 63 registered midwives practicing in northern Ontarioand 690 across the rest of the province, according to the Ministry of Health.

A group called Sudbury Community Midwives has a dozen midwives on staff, including Debbie Younger, who has beenworking in the profession for almost 20 years.

Shared care

She says she feels the growth in the field is due to the personalized care women receive from midwives.

"We find a lot of moms and their families really appreciate that care and being able to be involved in their care as much as possible," Younger said.

She notes pregnant momsappreciate theextra support during labour and birth and like that someone is with them through thewhole process.

Word-of-mouth has helped increase awareness around the profession.

"A lot of people hear about other friends and family members who have had midwives, and then they'll look into it themselves,"Younger said.

Sudbury Community Midwives is a shared care model,which means the midwives work in teams of two or three and share the call coverage, so they are able to provide24-hour care to all their clients.

The Ministry of Health allows for an average of40 clients per midwife every year.

Younger says they do have a wait list, however she is hopeful that as new midwives enterthe field that will help meet the growing demand.

Looking ahead

Once she graduates in a few years, Boiteauhopes to return to her home province of Manitoba where there are even fewer midwives.

"For me, even if it wasn't a guarantee, I'd still want to do this because I'm passionate about it and I think all the other girls in my class would say the same thing. We're all very passionate about what we're studying."

There are no plans to expand the midwifery education program at Laurentian, says professor TonyaMacDonald, who is also a practising midwife.

MacDonaldsays any such change would bea "multi-faceted decision" requiringinput from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the university and other stakeholders.

Last year, 27 per cent of Ontario women who wanted a midwife could not be accommodated, according to the Ministry of Health.