Midwives’ workloads have increased rapidly

Midwives’ workloads have increased rapidly during the pandemic as more families, particularly in rural and remote areas, want to avoid both travel and giving birth in high-exposure areas like hospitals.

British Columbia’s 300 midwives are calling on the province for support and better pay as the pandemic stretches them to the breaking point.

Midwives’ workloads have increased rapidly during the pandemic as more families, particularly in rural and remote areas, want to avoid both travel and giving birth in high-exposure areas like hospitals.

And according to a recent report, B.C. could lose a number of the midwives who together deliver about one-quarter of babies in the province if action isn’t taken quickly.

“We’ve reached an urgent crisis point where if we don’t support the midwifery profession, then we will be losing a significant portion of our members in the next three to five years and that will have a direct impact on patients,” said Lehe Spiegelman, president of the Midwives Association of B.C.

The results of a recent survey of midwives in B.C. conducted by two University of British Columbia researchers show how the pandemic has strained a profession already facing major challenges.

Two-thirds of midwives say their workload has increased due to the pandemic and 77 per cent are feeling burnt out, compared to 45 per cent who felt the same way in 2017.

More than 80 per cent also reported making their own PPE to protect themselves and patients at appointments, which take place anywhere from a client’s home to a community clinic to a hospital.

And one in five midwives say they are actively taking steps towards leaving the profession, more than double the number doing so in 2017.

Source:

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/12/08/bcs-midwives-are-on-the-brink-of-a-burnout-crisis.html

About MRCNS

The Midwifery Regulatory Council of Nova Scotia was established in 2009 to govern the profession of midwifery in the province. The mandate and
legislated duty of the Midwifery Regulatory Council of Nova Scotia is to
serve and protect the public interest by regulating the practice of midwifery. The Council registers qualified, competent midwives to provide
safe, high quality care to women and their families in Nova Scotia. The
Council is mandated to protect the public by ensuring that all registrants
engaged in clinical midwifery practice are safe, competent, and ethical
practitioners.

For Media Inquiries

Contact Midwifery Regulatory Council of Nova Scotia at:

PO Box 488
1894 Barrington Street
Halifax NS B3J 2A8

(902) 424 3218 (Phone)
(902) 424 0730 (Fax)

Jenny.Wright@novascotia.ca