How to Find a Midwife
If you’re pregnant and looking for a Health Care Provider, why not consider Midwifery care?
Midwifery care is an excellent option for a healthy, low-risk pregnancy.
They are also 100% covered by OHIP (or your province’s healthcare system) and they reduce the strain on the health care system, not to mention they cost the government less!
Midwives tend to see pregnancy and birth as a physiological experience rather than a pathology. They also tend to be non-interventionist, but they can access drugs and other interventions as needed, including — at most hospitals — ordering a doctor-administered epidural if requested. They provide all standard examinations and screenings and are the only practitioners trained in home birth or birth centre (The vast majority of midwife births are conducted in hospitals). You can expect to attend prenatal appointments every four to six weeks, increasing to every two weeks at 30 weeks and weekly after 36 weeks, as you would with a family doctor or OBGYN. Midwives continue to check on the birthing parent and baby for a few weeks after birth and will also come to your home in the first days after birth (as will your doula!). In other words, you have a physiological philosophy, options when it comes to your place of birth (home, hospital, birth centre) and continuity of care.
You do not need a referral for a midwife, but you do need to apply or get on a waiting list with your practice(s) of choice. Midwives are in high demand! Selecting a practice is usually based on geographical area and sometimes by a preference for the hospital where the midwives have privileges. You can view the Directory for Midwives in the Great Toronto Area, including where they have privileges, here.
But, how do I make sure my Midwife is a good fit for my family and me?
Great question! Now that you’re feeling comfortable with the model of care, lets make sure you feel a great connection with your midwife too!
Meet your Midwife & ask some questions!
These are s few of my favourite questions to ask midwives. By no means do you need to ask ALL of these!
Do you work in a team of midwives, and how does that team work together? Am I likely to have you at my birth, or is it equally possible that I’ll have a team member? When will I be able to meet the other team members?
How long have you been a midwife? What do you love most about being a midwife? What do you like least? Do you have a preference for birth place?
Do you have a student midwife that is working with you? If I am uncomfortable with the student midwife can I request that they not do procedures or attend my visits or birth?
When do you join me in labour? And how do you prefer to communicate with clients?
How do you approach the use of tools and interventions in the labour process? What is your philosophy on this?
What tools/ medications do you have access to and which ones require the hospital and consult with an OB? What do you have access to in an emergency if we are home or at the Birth Centre?
If I have my birth at the hospital, is there a transfer of care (to the obstetrics team) if I have an epidural or other medical augmentation or procedures?
What is your protocol for non-emergency transfers to the hospital? For emergency transfers?
If I need to be induced or have a caesarean birth what does your involvement look like?
What is your relationship to the hospital and health care team at that hospital like? Do you enjoy working with them? It it a challenge? what resistance might I run up against with my birth preferences?
What is your caesarean rate? Episiotomy rate? Transfer to hospital rate during labour?
Do you have experience with clients like me?
Can I have a doula and how do you work with a doula? (p.s. midwives usually LOVE doulas! If yours doesn’t ask them why!)
Not feeling like the right fit? You can ask to meet other midwives on the team (based on availability) or interview with other Midwifery practices! There are twenty- three Midwifery Collectives/ clinics in the Greater Toronto Area with each practice having privileges at one hospital. more than half of the practices have additional privileges at the Toronto Birth Centre and three have privileges at Alongside Midwifery Unit (AMU), which is essentially its own Birth Centre in Markham Stouffville Hospital. Check out the Directory of Midwives for the Greater Toronto Area here!
If you’ve got questions about midwifery care or what doula support could look like for you, leave a comment or be in touch!
