From the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health and the Canadian  Association of Midwives

 NEW BRUNSWICK GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES ITS INTENTION TO REGULATE AND FUND  MIDWIFERY CARE IN THE PROVINCE 
 WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS CELEBRATE MORE ACCESS TO MIDWIVES FOR WOMEN IN  ATLANTIC CANADA

 

Today, the New Brunswick government has demonstrated its willingness to  move forward to enhance maternity care options and better meet the needs of  New Brunswick women.

 Both the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health and the Canadian  Association of Midwives want to congratulate the New Brunswick government  for announcing its intention to regulate and fund midwifery.

 Dr. Christine Saulnier of the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's
 Health has been urging governments in the Atlantic to listen to the
 evidence and ensure that women in this region have access to a service
 available to women in the rest of the country.

 "The evidence is clear: midwifery offers high-quality,
 women-family-centred, community-based,collaborative care that has
excellent  outcomes for mothers and babies," says Dr. Saulnier.

 The president of the Canadian Association of Midwives, Kerstin Martin
 congratulates the New Brunswick government for not only recognizing the  need for regulation, but for announcing a commitment to fund this service,  "Midwives are an integral part of the primary health care team in the  provinces where they are regulated and funded. Funding ensures that the  profession is sustainable and that the service is available to all women  who choose to access it."

 Regulated midwifery has helped to sustain very fragile maternity care
 services and even reintroduced them in some communities in Canada.

 Currently, there are not enough family physicians doing prenatal care or
 labour and delivery to meet the demand of women in the region.
 Obstetricians are thus filling in many of the gaps. However, as
specialists  in high risk births, this is not the most effective allocation of scarce  resources.

 Childbirth is not a medical event. Most women can and do experience it
 without complications. Integrating midwives, as specialists in normal
 birth, is a key strategy for supporting women to give birth under the care
 of the most appropriate care provider.