To: Board of Directors, Milton District Hospital

We the undersigned do hereby and respectfully request that Midwives be given privileges in your hospital to provide care for low-risk pregnant women and their babies.

Large and small hospitals across Ontario grant hospital privileges to midwives Women of Milton want midwifery care and are currently leaving their community for it. They seek care from midwifery clinics in Burlington, Guelph, Georgetown, Oakville and even as far as Stoney Creek.

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION COMES FROM THE COLLEGE OF MIDWIVES WEBSITE:
"The practice of midwifery is the assessment and monitoring of women during pregnancy, labour, and the post-partum period and of their newborn babies, the provision of care during normal pregnancy, labour, and post-partum period, and the conducting of spontaneous normal vaginal deliveries."

Scope of practice for midwifery as defined in the Midwifery Act, 1991.

The woman is the client of the midwife and the primary decision-maker during childbearing. Midwives use the terms client and woman to refer to the woman and those family members or support people as identified by the woman.

A midwife is a registered health care professional who provides primary care to women during pregnancy, labour and birth, including conducting normal vaginal deliveries and providing care to mothers and babies during the first 6 weeks postpartum.

Midwifery care is founded on respect for pregnancy and birth as a normal, healthy process and a profound social, emotional and cultural event in a womans life. Midwives provide safe, personalized, research-based care. They attend births in hospital or home according to the womans choice and professional protocols and are on-call and available to their clients 24 hours a day during the course of care.

A registered midwife must follow the Colleges philosophy of midwifery care, as well as a comprehensive set of guidelines, known as standards. For example, there are standards for consultation and transfer of care to physicians, place of birth, equipment and medication, record keeping, and a Code of Ethics.

Midwives begin care in the first trimester of a womans pregnancy and provide complete care to their client as the primary caregiver. Midwifery care includes visits with the client at the midwifery clinic, attendance at the labour and birth and post partum home visits. Throughout the clients care, a midwife or her practice back-up is available on a 24 hour basis. Midwives consult with physicians if necessary and may transfer care if required. A midwife may provide supportive care to her client if care is transferred.

Midwives are trained professionals who have the skills to attend births in hospital or a home setting. Midwives carry the required equipment to attend women during the delivery of their babies in a home setting. Midwives maintain current knowledge of
Emergency skills, including neonatal and cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Laboratory testing and diagnostics
Breastfeeding counselling
Homebirth
In Ontario, the practice of midwifery is based on the principles of:
Continuity of care with a small group of midwives
Informed choice for decision-making
Choice of birthplace (including home, hospital).
Midwives provide their clients with information in order to help them make appropriate choices for their care. All clients are kept informed throughout their care in order to make choices when necessary.



Midwives work in group practices of two or more registered midwives and are paid by the provincial government. Currently, there must be at least two midwives attending each clients birth. At times, due to off-call arrangements (such as for vacations or a heavy practice load), a midwifery practice may have an arrangement with a local health care provider (i.e. a registered nurse) to act as a second birth attendant to assist the midwife in cases where another midwife is not available.

We urge you to make Midwifery Care a top priority for Milton.


Sincerely,