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The
Midwifery Model of
Care
OUR PRACTICE AND
MODEL OF CARE
All
midwives in Ontario are registered with the College of Midwives of
Ontario and are qualified primary care providers for healthy pregnancies
and newborns. The scope of practice for midwives is designated in
standard guidelines set out by the College. For healthy pregnancies
midwives can offer prenatal testing, such as blood work, ultrasound, and
other tests where indicated. We see women prenatally at our clinic and
postnatally we usually visit you for the early postpartum period.
Our
practice includes registered midwives and midwifery students. We
provide complete care for healthy pregnant women living in Peel Region
and Halton Hills. Midwives are primary caregivers for women during
pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period. We also care for your
newborn during the postpartum period.
Our practice follows a team-based model of care, with
each client usually having a team of two or three midwives who see them
alternately at each visit. One of your midwives will plan to be in
attendance at your birth. Although we are
strongly committed to continuity of care and try to ensure that one of
your designated midwives are present at the birth, sometimes
circumstances will prevent this from occurring.
INFORMED CHOICE
We
encourage women to actively participate in decision making around their
pregnancy, birth and postpartum. We view our role as providing
information to assist you in making these important decisions.
A
midwife’s care is individualized according to your needs. In order to
be effective as caregivers, it is important that you keep us well
informed of problems or situations that may affect your care.
ON AND OFF CALL
TIME
Your
midwives are on call and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for
labour and urgent concerns. Each midwife regularly takes scheduled time
off call per month.
Midwives also have scheduled blocks of time off during the year (usually
one month at a time) and do not book clients with due dates during their
holidays. In order to cover overlap around holiday periods, some
alternate arrangements may be made. You can discuss the specifics of
coverage during holidays with your midwives.
STUDENTS
As a
practice, we are firmly committed to the growth of midwifery in
Ontario. We feel that it is important to educate new midwives as the
demand for midwifery services increases. Our practice is a teaching
practice and participates in the education and supervision of midwifery
students. You will meet and get to know the students in our practice
during your pregnancy. Students are involved in all aspects of
midwifery care and are expected to be present at prenatal and postpartum
visits and at the birth. Students are always supervised and participate
in your care to varying degrees depending on their level of study. For
further information about student involvement please see the Student
Informed Choice Package.
PRENATAL CARE
Regular prenatal care has been shown to improve the health of women and
their babies. Each week one of your team of midwives will be in the
office to provide all of the appointments for the team’s clients. This
will ensure that appointments are available with some flexibility for
you and that clinic is not cancelled due to births.
During your prenatal visits you will have the opportunity to learn about
the changes your body goes through as the pregnancy progresses. Our
care includes monitoring your blood pressure, the growth of the baby,
the baby’s heart rate and position, urinalysis, assessment of your
general health and that of the baby. We expect to see all clients at
least once a month until the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy, every
second week until the thirty-sixth week, and once a week thereafter
until the baby is born.
If
you developed any complications in previous pregnancies, we request that
you obtain records of your birth from the midwife or physician who
provided your care. If you develop any complications during your
pregnancy, we will refer you to the appropriate specialist for a
consultation and in some cases care will be transferred to the
specialist.
Your
family and friends are welcome to attend clinic with you. If you are
planning to have your children at the birth, we suggest that you bring
them to meet us.
When
a homebirth is planned, the midwives will visit your home to become
familiar with the location.
LABOUR AND BIRTH
Our
care in labour includes telephone support in early labour and continuous
support during active labour. Two midwives will be present for the
birth and immediate postpartum. Midwives monitor the progress of
labour, conduct the delivery of the baby and provide immediate
postpartum care for the mom and newborn, including suturing if necessary
and a newborn exam. If complications develop in labour or during the
birth, your midwife will consult and / or transfer care to the
appropriate specialist as indicated.
We
also provide help with breastfeeding, give emotional support and give
information and guidance to the woman and her support people. In
situations where birth plans change in labour, we continue to provide
you with information about your options and give support to help you
make decisions.
POSTNATAL CARE
In
most circumstances, women are encouraged to go home 3-4 hours after a
hospital birth. Following home birth, midwives will remain to monitor
women and their newborns for the first 3 to 4 hours. We will be out to
visit you at home the following day and see you at regular visits
following the birth of your baby. We continue to provide care for you
and the baby until 6 weeks postpartum.
Any
routine tests or treatment required by yourself or the baby in the first
six weeks postpartum will be administered by your midwives. Any
concerns that arise during your postnatal period should be referred to
your midwife who will either address those concerns herself or refer you
on to the appropriate specialist.
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