NDP promises to expand midwifery program if elected

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Gary Burrillsays if he's elected, his government will invest $6 million over four years to give more expectant mothersaccess to midwives.

The investment would allow the province to double itsnumberof practising midwives and create a training program for people who want to become midwives, the NDP said in a news release on Mother's Day.

"We know more and more families in Nova Scotia are looking for a midwife to be part of their pregnancy and delivery," Burrill said in the statement.

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Right now, Nova Scotia has 10 workingmidwives, the NDP said,includingsix in the Halifax area, two on the South Shore and two in Antigonish.

A 2011 external report prepared for thethen-NDPgovernment on the state of Nova Scotia'smidwifery program recommended that the province have 20 full-time midwives by the end of the 2017 fiscal year.

"In our view midwifery in NScannot long survive in its present state," the report said.

"If nothing is done, the profession will collapse and the benefits of regulation will not be realized.There are too few members to meet increasing requests for midwifery care, provide services safely and effectively, and attend to the complexity of regulatory and professional association activities that are required of a newly regulated profession."

McNeiltold reporters on Sunday that midwifery would be part of an overall health service plan under his government, but he could not provide details about that plan.

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