Midwives celebrated in Regina, advocate calls for expansion of services

People in Regina salutedmidwivesSunday afternoon as part of the International Day of the Midwife.

The afternoon was to "celebrate the midwives that we have working tirelessly for us," said Regina advocate and event organizer Julian Wotherspoon.

They discussedhow services could be expanded in Saskatchewan and why they think they should be.

Wortherspoonhas been a birthdoulafor numerous years in Regina, and had a midwife involved inher second birth. Herfirst son was born in 2009. That was before midwifery regulations were implemented in Saskatchewan, so she was unable to access a midwife. However, she remained interested in the service.

She"wasn't a fan" of not knowing who was going to be at the birth orthe short medicalappointments.

"Our care, during thepregnancy, labour, delivery, was fine. There wasn't anything, you know, incredibly negative to say about it, it just wasn't the relationship that we wanted."

She knew she wanted to feel more supported anddevelop a realrelationship with her care provider as she prepared for her second birth.

With the use of a midwife, Wotherspoon was able to have that. Additionally, she had her family by her sideandher eldest childinvolved in the birth.Midwives work with an interdisciplinary team to provide primary health care to women.

Midwives could fill 'gaps' in province

"Midwives are a really key piece to addressing some of the gaps in care we experience in Saskatchewan," she said.

It's difficult to implement infant and maternal services in the province because of the widespread rural populations and the diversity of the people,Wotherspoonsaid.

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She noted rural and Indigenous midwifery is important, but for many families, accessing culturally-appropriate care close to home isn't possible.

"Midwives:their model is just really well placed to address all of those challenges to providing care."

Registered midwives are currently only employed in three of 13 regional health authorities, according to the Midwives Association of Saskatchewan website.

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Thereare 15 funded midwives in the province, according to theSaskatchewan College of Midwives. Three currently work in theReginaQu'AppelleHealth Region and six are with the Saskatoon Health Region.

Wotherspoonwants to see more working inthe province.

"What we're really looking for is an expansion and a building upon those services," she said."There's a lot of room and a lot of potential to grow midwifery services."