Number of newborns in N.S. without a family doctor, care provider on the rise

An increaseinthe number of newborns being referred to designated newborn clinics in the province is troubling, says theNova Scotia NDP.

The clinics, called unattached newborn clinics,were launched by Nova Scotia Health in December2022 to provide care for newborns who do not have a family doctor or primary care provider.

A release from the provincialNDP caucus says941 of the5,922 babies born in 2023 were referred to clinics.

The number of referrals has steadily increasedeach quarteraccording tofigures obtained by a freedom of information request, the NDP release said.

Susan Leblanc, the party's health and wellness spokesperson, said the numbers areconcerning.

"Babies are vulnerable and require a lot of checks when they're newborn," Leblanc said.

"There's nothing more comforting than your family physician or nurse practitionerseeing your baby when they're a day old or two days old and following them through their infancy."

Leblanc said the increase in referrals to the centres parallels the percentage of Nova Scotia residents on the waiting list for a family doctor.

She attributed bothto an increasingpopulation and said while thatincreaseis a welcome development, it is outpacing the growth of primary health-care services.

If the province wants toretainnew residents and young Nova Scotians, it mustensurethat everyonehas proper access to health resources, she said.

Ashley Harnish, the director of primary care for Nova Scotia Health's central zone, said the province and the central zone in particular has been experiencing significant population growth.

Harnish said the health authority has preparedfor the upward trend of referrals to clinics for newborns and has been deploying clinicians to support them.

The authority has been working hard to keep pace with the growth, she said.

"In the interim, folks need access to careand services," Harnish said.

"Programs and clinics like the unattached newborn are our way of bridging that support while we continue to right size, round out and get the infrastructure and thestaff for everybody to have access to a health home."

She said clinics provide comprehensive care similar to family doctors, including regular checkups and immunizations, and ensure continuity of care by maintaining detailed medical records.

Meanwhile, Dr. Gehad Gobran, the new president of DoctorsNova Scotia, said a shortage of family doctors in the provinceis affecting all patients, including newborns.

Gobran said while doctors at the unattached clinics can see the child,provide care and track their progress over ayear, family doctors remain the "core of medicine."

He said having enough family doctors for everyone remains a challenge.

Part of the problem, Gobran said, is that family doctors have other demands they have to fulfil, such as nursing homes, emergency medicine, sexual health, addiction medicine andhospitals.

"Too many areas haveto be filled ... and family physicians are really, reallyburned out," he said.

"Twenty-three per centof family physicians working now are over the age of 60. And we don't know how long they can keepthemselves in practice."

One measure the Nova ScotiaNDP thinks would improve the quality of care for newborns is an expansion of midwifery services in the province.

There are now 16 midwives in Nova Scotia, though some areas likeCape Breton have no midwifery services available.

Leblanc would like to see midwives trained in Nova Scotia to ensure that their services are available across the province.

CJ Blennerhassett, vice-president of the Association of Nova Scotia Midwives, would also like to see a training program in the province to address the shortage of midwives.

Blennerhassettsaid midwives offer critical supportin the first six weeks after birthbut would like to see that extended to encompass the first year.

"We are underutilized in our health-care system. And that's not unique to Nova Scotia. That's true across the country. We really just want to help."