Private Member's Statement
May 5, 2008: International Day of the Midwife
Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today, May 5, is International Day of the Midwife, not something we can really celebrate here in Alberta because although we do now recognize midwives as a legal occupation, midwifery services are still not covered under Alberta health care. We have decreasing capacity in the obstetrics field, we have increased demand with a surge in babies being born, but the government has dithered and studied and thought for almost 20 years, and no core funding for midwifery.
Let’s remember that childbirth is not a disease. It is not poor health. It is a natural process. Most births are uncomplicated and do not require medical intervention. Midwives serve most of the world’s mothers just fine, but we don’t get that choice in Alberta. Despite the oft demonstrated evidence of significantly lower costs for a midwife assisted delivery as compared to a hospital delivery, we still can’t get midwifery services covered under health care. The government seems intransigent in the face of women’s choice, good value for money, less expensive costs, high demand for the service, and alleviating strain in the hospital system. What gives? What possible reason does the government have for not funding this?
This issue has been pilot projected to death. Then it was handed off to primary care networks, but these are family docs, and midwives are not high on their priority list. We had the one position on the Midwifery Health Discipline Committee representing women consumers, and it was cut. Did we ever get the integration of midwifery services evaluation project report? This report was commissioned in 1997, but as of two years ago we still didn’t have a public copy. The final excuse I’ve heard is that now there are not enough midwives remaining in the province to make it practical. Well, whose fault is that?
So, boys, make it so. You have the facts, figures, demand, and capacity. Now all you have to do is fund midwifery services under health care. Thank you.
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