Six organizations from the midwifery community are calling for a meeting with the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to discuss the issues of accessibility to services in the regions.
“We want to make the Minister aware that it is a matter of equity that women in the regions have access to midwifery services. […] We have to think of a way in which all women in the territory can have access to it. On the phone, Roxane Lorrain made herself clear: while the major urban centers are fairly well served in terms of midwifery services, this is not the case everywhere.
This is why the co-coordinator of the Movement for autonomy in childbirth (formerly the Movement for autonomy in motherhood and natural childbirth) supports six groups, all from the regions, who urgently demand a meeting with Mr. Dube.
On the side of the minister’s office, it is indicated that discussions with organizations from the community have already begun. “Several meetings have taken place and are to come with different groups of midwives, in particular we met with national bodies such as the Ordre des sages-femmes du Québec and the Regroupement Les sages-femmes du Québec,” writes the advisor. communications Audrey Noiseux, by email.
Other than the hospital
One of the issues raised by groups of midwives is the demand for access to three places of birth for pregnant women: the hospital, the home or another place of birth, such as a birthing center, where midwives. Currently, several regions do not have a place of birth, which reduces the possibility of choice for women who do not wish to give birth in hospital, explains Roxane Lorrain.
“In town, you can almost choose your birth center, since there are several in a small area,” she says. “But in the regions, if there aren’t any and we don’t fund them, that doesn’t allow all pregnant people to have access to the three possible choices of places to give birth. »
A situation that she considers regrettable, since “the model of midwifery practice is based on the possibility of offering these three places”.
There are 23 birth centers in Quebec, according to the website of the Order of Midwives of Quebec. Six of them are in Montreal, while Quebec City has only one. A birth center can “accommodate a maximum of 400 complete maternity follow-ups per year. »
Roxane Lorrain hopes that the number of these establishments in Quebec will continue to grow. “Our demand is that the government recognize the need to offer birth centers also in the regions and commit to the funding and support it will offer to the communities to create these places. »
Projects that “come to fruition”
In the minister’s office, it is said that projects in this direction are already underway. “Budgets are provided for in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan to increase the number of birth centers, several projects are already materializing and will be unveiled at the appropriate time,” writes communications advisor Audrey Noiseux.
She also recalls the announcement, made last week by the Minister, of the creation of a midwifery position in Gaspésie, a first in the region. A news welcomed by Roxane Lorrain, who is however not entirely satisfied.
« The Côte-de-Gaspé Midwifery Access Collective [qui oeuvre dans la région] wants the possibility of opening a place of birth outside a hospital centre. The creation of a midwife position is good news, but we must continue to mobilize. She specifies that the presence of four midwives in a sector is necessary in order to “offer a complete follow-up of pregnancy”.
For its part, the ministry insists on the importance of manpower training: “We are training more professionals, for example with the short program at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), and we are continuing to recruit internationally”. The only existing baccalaureate in midwifery practice in the province is at UQTR and currently admits only 30 students per year.
“We want to continue to improve access to midwifery services for new parents in the various regions of Quebec, particularly in Aboriginal communities,” insists Minister Dubé’s office.
In 2015, a commitment from the government at the time stipulated that midwives could monitor 10% of pregnancies in Quebec starting in 2019. According to the Movement for Autonomy in Childbirth, this percentage would currently stand at 4, 5%.