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The province is looking to change the role of midwives in an effort to expand the service and boost recruitment.
A bill tabled earlier this month would expand the scope of practice for midwives, allow students to do clinical placements in New Brunswick and add three new positions to the Midwifery Council of New Brunswick, the governing body that oversees the profession.
Under the current act, the practice of midwifery includes “the care, assessment and monitoring of women during normal pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period.”
In an interview, Health Minister John Dornan said the law, if passed, would allow for midwives to work to their trained scope by providing care to people throughout their childbearing years by providing contraceptive advice and other routine procedures.
Health Minister John Dornan said midwives are not working to their full scope under the current legislation. (Allyson McCormack/CBC)
Dornan said the changes could also help with recruiting more midwives to the province, which has been a challenge.
“If we want to keep more midwives in New Brunswick, then it would be helpful for them to undergo a part of their training here in the province,” he said.
Kandise Brown, executive director of the midwifery council, said the current provisions don’t allow students to do their clinical training in the province.
Dornan said if the law passes, the changes would take effect “the day after.”
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N.B. looks to expand the role of midwives
The proposed bill would expand midwives scope of practice and allow students to train in the province
In terms of what’s next for the practice of midwifery in the province, Dornan said his government would like to expand the service to other communities.
The Fredericton Midwifery Centre opened in 2017 and offers care to patients within a 60-minute drive. Despite plans for expanding care, the capital remains the only place in the province offering this care.
Dornan said it takes time to hire a cohort of midwives who are willing to work in different areas.
He said the delay in expanding the service can also be attributed to midwives being a relatively new option for women giving birth in New Brunswick.
Relieve burden on health-care system, midwife says
Jasmine Graham, a Fredericton-based midwife hoping to open a private clinic in the province, said the changes could help lessen the burden on the strained health-care system.
Currently, she can provide care to newborns up to six weeks of age, but the changes would allow her to extend that care to 18 months and also allow her to perform immunizations and developmental screening.
Jasmine Graham, a midwife who lives in Fredericton, said she hopes the changes will help the health-care system. (Submitted by Jasmine Graham)
While she’s already able to offer these services to pregnant women, Graham said she would also be able to offer them to people of reproductive age — services like Pap tests, screening for sexually transmitted infections and treatment of urinary tract infections.
She said for patients “having [these procedures] done with somebody that they know and they built a relationship with can be really comforting for people who don’t have a primary care provider.”
Graham said she hopes the changes to the act will eventually lead to an expansion of midwifery services beyond the Fredericton area.
Ursula Rinne, president of the Midwives Association of New Brunswick, said the proposed changes are a “step in the right direction,” but more needs to be done to offer service across the province.
LISTEN | President of Midwives Association of New Brunswick explains proposed changes:
Shift – NB9:32Midwifery Amendments
The province is looking to make changes to the services midwives are able to provide, and allow student midwives to do their clinical experience here. Would these changes help expand the service beyond Fredericton? We’ll ask Midwives Association president Ursula Rinne.
She agreed the proposed legislation will fill gaps in health care, eventually allowing midwives to help meet the health needs of patients without adequate access to care.
“I think it’ll help in terms of providing access to sexual and reproductive services,” Rinne said.
Brown said the midwifery council has been working with the province for about a year on the amendments to the Midwifery Act.
“This gives families more options for receiving care once their baby is at home and it also has the possibility of people of reproductive age who are not pregnant accessing midwifery services,” she said.
“They’re not earth-shattering changes, but I think they’re the kind of change that just helps create the conditions that we need to improve access.”
The bill passed second reading on Tuesday and awaits third reading.