OTTAWA MIDWIVES TO HOLD ANNUAL FAMILY PICNIC AT BRITANNIA PARK

[Ottawa Midwife]

PRESS RELEASE​

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Ottawa midwives TO HOLD ANNUAL FAMILY PICNIC AT BRITANNIA PARK ​

ON SUNDAY, JUNE 7 2008.​

The Ottawa area midwives are holding their annual family picnic on Sunday, June 7, from 11am to 2pm, rain or shine. The picnic brings together midwives from Ottawa area practices (The Midwifery Group of Ottawa, Sages-Femmes de Prescott-Russell, and Midwifery Collective of Ottawa), parents and children, as well as friends and supporters of midwifery. Everyone is welcome!

Bring a picnic lunch (cake will be served at the event) and join us at the Trolley Station in Britannia Park.

This year, we are celebrating 15 years of recognized midwifery in Ontario!

Midwifery became a regulated health profession in 1994. There are currently 435 Registered Midwives in Ontario, serving women and communities in 72 clinics across the province. Over 85 000 babies have been born under midwifery care since 1994, including over 20,000 births at home.

Midwives provide high quality maternity care to Ontario women and their babies. Midwives are primary care providers, and their services are fully funded by the province. According to a recent Ministry of Health evaluation, midwives have a 98% satisfaction rate: this is one of the reasons that the demand for their services is so high.

Despite recent efforts to increase the number of registered midwives, access to midwifery care in Ontario continues to be a challenge for expecting women: 4 out of 10 women wishing to deliver their babies with midwives were turned away last year. Demand for midwifery in Ontario simply outpaces the supply.

Midwives in Ontario have staff privileges in 70 hospitals, with the goal of allowing women to choose to give birth at home or in a hospital setting. Hospital privileges for midwives are a key element in providing women with real birth care choices. Increasing the number of midwives that can deliver in hospitals continues to be a challenge in the Ottawa area, as elsewhere in Ontario, with hospitals capping the number of midwives having access to their maternity wards.

Ontario needs more midwives with hospital privileges to respond to the growing need expressed by expecting women for high-quality, community-based maternity care.

Come join us on Sunday June 7 at Britannia Park to show your support or to find out more!

Contact person:
Teresa Bandrowska
Midwifery Group of Ottawa
613-729-9957