The range of services provided by Alberta midwives will grow this spring, following a new arrangement with Alberta Health Services.
A three-year agreement, lasting until March 31, 2022, will enable midwives to prescribe more prescription drugs and contraceptives, induce labour and use ultrasounds to determine fetal position.
The province says the goal is to increase access to midwifery services across the province, but especially in rural and Indigenous communities.
Health Minister Sarah Hoffman called the Wednesday announcement “really exciting.”
“I talk to women regularly who say it’s really important that their choices around who supports them with their pregnancy is being respected, and I’m proud to be part of a government that worked through this really important agreement.”
She added that the provincial government is committed to helping the Alberta Association of Midwives reach their target of 5,600 midwife-support births every year in Alberta. Currently, that number hovers around 4,000.
“Albertans have told us that midwifery is a preferred option for maternal and newborn care in our province,” said Dr. Verna Yiu, AHS president and CEO, in a written statement.
“We have already taken some important steps towards increasing access to midwifery care in new locations across the province. This agreement is another important step towards continuing this growth.”
The president of the AAM, Nicole Matheson, said the agreement has changed Alberta’s maternity-care landscape to “better support pregnant people to freely choose where, how, and with whom they birth.”
The update to the Health Professions Act takes effect April 1.
AHS and the Alberta Association of Midwives will go back to the negotiation table in the third year to review compensation.
Over the last three years, additional funding from the provincial government has brought the total amount allocated to midwifery services to $49 million.
