SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, midwifery-led births account for only 5 per cent of total births in Nova Scotia, far below the national average of 14 per cent, and I can table that. This is a disservice for expectant mothers in Nova Scotia, given many positive health outcomes associated. Midwifery support leads to more natural births, a decrease in C-sections and surgical interventions, easier breastfeeding initiation, and it decreases the chance of having a pre-term birth. Not only does it take the stress off new moms, but it also takes stress off our hospitals. Does the Minister of Health and Wellness recognize the importance of midwifery care in our health care system?
HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: I spoke about this yesterday in the Chamber. Certainly, midwives have a role to play in prenatal, obstetrical, and gynecological care. In fact, there are things that they can do around supporting women’s wellness. We have a couple of areas outside of the city. IWK has some midwives, and we do have some areas. It certainly is not easy to maintain the staffing complement in those areas. We’re also making sure that midwives are part of a team. We need to ensure that they have nurses who are around them. We need to make sure they have primary care physicians who do obstetrics. We need to make sure they have specialty services to support them. Yes, many deliveries are usual and regular, but we need to make sure that they have the infrastructure around them. We do continue to look at women’s health issues, and we’ll continue to assess the situation as we move forward.
SUSAN LEBLANC: As the minister’s response shows, it’s hard to ignore the benefits of midwives that they add to our health care system. Investment in midwives is simply a smart policy, yet there are only 16 funded positions and 3 practices in the province. Many communities across Nova Scotia, as the minister said, lack essential midwifery care. The budget yesterday was a missed opportunity for this government to address the critical shortage. Why is this government not investing in midwives? MICHELLE THOMPSON: Nova Scotians are not missing out on good, quality, excellent obstetrical and gynecological care in this province, and midwives are a part of that team, but they are not the only members on that team. We know that midwives play a role. We have 16 positions. To date, they have been very difficult to date to fill. We continue to work with Nova Scotia Health and IWK to better understand how to support them.
THE SPEAKER: Order. The time allotted for Oral Questions Put by Members to Ministers has expired.