What is Midwifery?

What is a Midwife?

The midwife sees pregnancy and childbirth as normal states for the healthy mother. The midwife provides continuity of care throughout the pregnancy, birth and postpartum period. She carefully watches and guides, assisting the family to give birth, respecting their choices and values.

By definition accepted by the International Confederation of Midwives and the World Health Organization, and endorsed by health planning groups in Ontario, a midwife is:

A person who, having been regularly admitted to a midwifery education program, duly recognized in the country in which it is located, has successfully completed the prescribed course of studies in midwifery and has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or legally licensed to practice midwifery. She must be able to give the necessary supervision, care and advice to women during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period, to conduct deliveries on her own responsibility and to care for the newborn infant. This care includes preventative measures, the detection of abnormal conditions in mother and child, the procurement of medical assistance and the execution of emergency measures in the absence of medical help. She has an important task in health counselling and education, not only for the patients, but also within the family and community. The work should involve antenatal education and preparation for parenthood and extends to certain areas of gynaecology, family planning and child care. She may practice in hospitals, clinics, health units, domiciliary conditions, or in any other service.

As of January 1, 1994, the practice of midwifery in Ontario has been covered in legislation that regulates several health professions in the province. Midwives are required to be registered with the College of Midwives of Ontario, which sets standards for practice and education. All aspects of midwifery care are fully funded for Ontario residents through the Ministry of Health.

The Ontario model of midwifery is based on three principles:

• Continuity of Care
  Midwifery care is available to women throughout their pregnancy, labour, birth, and the first six weeks after birth. Midwives spend time developing relationships with women and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Informed Choice
  Women are active decision-makers in the care they receive; midwives give information to help women make informed decisions.
• Choice of Birthplace
  Midwifery clients may choose to give birth at home or in hospital. Midwives maintain hospital privileges at many Ontario hospitals and work collaboratively with other health care practitioners. The midwives in our practice hold credentials at St. Joseph's Health Care, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital

Scope of Practice

Midwifery Act, 1994
" The practice of midwifery is the assessment and monitoring of women during pregnancy, labour and the post-partum period and of their newborn babies, the provision of care during normal pregnancy, labour and post-partum period and the conducting of spontaneous normal vaginal deliveries."

Our Practice

Thames Valley Midwives offers services to women living in London and the counties of Middlesex, Elgin and Oxford, as far east as Woodstock. We attend births at home, and in the following hospitals: St. Joseph's Health Centre, London Health Sciences Centre, St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital and Woodstock General Hospital.

The midwives in our group work as a partnership, and we ensure that you will have an opportunity to meet three midwives in the practice. One of us will be assigned as your primary midwife for the pregnancy and birth. Should your primary midwife be unavailable due to off-call time, illness or being at another birth, then one of the other midwives you have met will act as your primary. Each midwife in our practice has at least one off-call weekend per month.

Two midwives will attend your birth, whether at home or in the hospital. In rare circumstances, the unavailability of midwives may necessitate women planning a home birth coming to hospital to give birth. Similarly, women may very occasionally be required to give birth at a hospital other than the one they had planned to use, either due to midwives already attending a birth at another facility or lack of available labour/delivery beds at an individual facility.

We are a teaching practice which provides clinical placements for students of the Ontario University Midwifery Education Programme. Students with varying skill levels will be working with us over an extended period of time, allowing women to become familiar with them. Because of the importance of educating more midwives to serve Ontario's women, we encourage you to have students involved in your care. However, we fully respect your needs to meet and feel comfortable with any student who may be involved with you, and to decline student involvement in any aspect of your care. Students are closely supervised according to their level of education in the Midwifery Education Programme; of course, your midwife is ultimately responsible for your care.

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