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April 29, 2008 Ontario Midwives celebrate “The Second Stage.” Next week, Ontario midwives will gather in Toronto for a conference featuring clinical and issues-based sessions. This year’s theme is “The Second Stage: Making Midwifery Central in Ontario’s Healthcare System. The conference offers clinical workshops for breech management, fetal screening and more. Panel discussion topics include hospital privileges, interprofessional collaboration and pandemic planning, among others. The keynote speaker is Canadian social justice advocate and author, Maude Barlow. She will address the members on May 7. Minister of Health George Smitherman will address delegates at the opening ceremonies on May 6. The event provides a forum for midwives to learn, share ideas and network. It also celebrates the progression of midwifery in the province while highlighting the challenges still ahead. “Midwifery has both established and proven itself in communities across Ontario,” says Elana Johnson, President of the Association of Ontario Midwives. “Today, there are close to 400 midwives working in 63 practice groups across the province, providing care for 10,000 women and 10,000 newborns. Every year, midwives attend to 8% of all births in Ontario. A cost-effective model of care with excellent clinical outcomes and glowing praise from consumers – as individual practitioners and as a profession, we have much to be proud of. “We want pregnancy, birth and the journey to becoming a parent to be a positive experience. Midwives provide care that respects and promotes pregnancy and birth as a normal life event. Midwifery care supports women’s sense of control and ability. This in turn contributes to women beginning this part of their life with confidence and excitement, which means their families and their newborns are off to the best start possible,” she says. The conference takes place May 5 to 8 and is open to all health care workers and members of the public. For a full conference schedule, fees and to register, please visit www.aom.on.ca. A midwife is a registered health care professional who provides primary care to low-risk women throughout their pregnancy, labour and birth and provides care to both mother and baby during the first six weeks following the birth. The Association of Ontario Midwives is the professional body representing midwives and the practice of midwifery in Ontario. For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact: |
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