Toronto, ON -- Ontario midwives applaud today’s announcement by the provincial government to expand the midwifery scope of practice to better align with patient needs. This exciting new direction has the potential to improve midwives’ ability to provide comprehensive, high-quality, client-centred care.

“Expanding the midwifery scope of practice will help eliminate some of the barriers midwives currently face when ordering lab tests or prescribing certain medications,” says Elizabeth Brandeis, RM, President of the Association of Ontario Midwives. “The clients we care for will really feel the impact when, as midwives, we’re able to prescribe any drug or order any test related to pregnancy, birth or postpartum care.”

Currently, midwives can only prescribe drugs and order tests from a narrow list. An expansion of their scope of practice means that midwives will be even better positioned to provide comprehensive care to clients and babies from conception, through pregnancy, labour, and birth, all the way through to six weeks following birth.

Midwives attend approximately 16% of all births that happen in Ontario, and have a key role to play in Ontario’s primary health-care transformation strategy. Midwives attend births in hospital, at home and in birth centres.

About Midwifery in Ontario
Midwives are a registered health-care professionals who provides primary care to those with low-risk pregnancies. Midwives provide care throughout pregnancy, labour and birth, as well as for the first six weeks following birth. There are more than 800 registered midwives in Ontario, serving communities across the province.

The Association of Ontario Midwives is the professional organization representing midwives and the profession of midwifery in Ontario.

For more information:
Juana Berinstein, Director, Policy and Communications
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-371-1468

Elizabeth Brandeis, RM, President
Association of Ontario Midwives
president@aom.on.ca

(FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION, ON) – The Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) celebrates the Liberal funding announced today to boost Aboriginal midwifery.

“As an Indigenous adoptee from the Oneida Nation of the Thames, I know first-hand the importance of the reclamation of Indigenous birth practices and ceremony. They are integral to the identity and health of Indigenous peoples,” says Ellen Blais, Policy Analyst with the AOM and Indigenous midwife.

Aboriginal communities recovering from the devastating impact of residential schools experience compromised health outcomes when compared to the rest of the population, including maternal and newborn health. Aboriginal midwives bring healing and health by keeping birth close to home and connecting people with their culture and traditions.

"This announcement is a remarkable step towards the renewal of Aboriginal midwifery in Ontario,” says Blais. “It's a welcome and celebrated step towards culturally appropriate care that will foster healing and well-being for women, newborns, families and entire communities.”

Today’s Liberal commitment will enable Aboriginal midwives to bring birth close to home again and to stem the common practice of removing Indigenous women from their communities for birth, a practice which is seen as an extension of the residential school system.

The Association of Ontario Midwives is the professional organization representing midwives and the profession of midwifery in Ontario.

To arrange interviews:
Juana Berinstein, Director, Policy and Communications
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-371-1468

Ellen Blais, Policy Analyst, Aboriginal Midwifery
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-846-0826

From left, midwives Amy Larson, Ellen Blais, Lisa Bishop and Barbara Kemeny.


Aboriginal midwife and AOM Policy Analyst Ellen Blais (right)
with Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health
 

TORONTO, July 13, 2016 - A new guideline released by the Association of Ontario Midwives today confirms the safety of home birth and recommends it should be considered by all with low-risk pregnancies.

In developing the guideline, a panel reviewed Canadian evidence and found that midwifery clients who plan a home birth often have fewer complications than those who plan a hospital birth. Based on four research studies that examined records of more than 45, 000 births in Ontario and British Columbia, the guideline’s review found that babies’ health outcomes are the same, whether their birth was planned at home or in a hospital. In these clinical studies evaluated by the panel, planning home birth was also found to reduce interventions like C-section by up to 30% and the need for drugs to speed up labour by as much as 40%.

“We’ve always known that home birth in Ontario is safe,” says midwife Liz Darling, PhD, chair of the Expert Advisory Panel tasked with writing the guideline. “This new guideline provides midwives with an additional way of talking to their clients about the safety of home birth, using rigorous research from right here in Canada and in Ontario.”

Two of the four Canadian studies examining home birth were led by Eileen Hutton, PhD, an internationally recognized midwifery researcher and director of the Midwifery Education Program at McMaster University. These studies are the largest to date in Canada, examining provincial records of all Ontario home births with midwives from 2003 to 2009. The other two studies were conducted by Patricia Janssen, PhD at the University of British Columbia.

Canadian findings are consistent with international research on home birth out of the U.K., New Zealand, the Netherlands and Norway, which have similar midwifery services available. However, they have the advantage of being representative of the population and health-care system in Canada.

In the April 2016 editorial from the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, Hutton noted: “The message for Canadian physicians, midwives, families, and policy makers is this: in provinces in which midwifery is regulated, and home birth is a part of that regulation, home birth is well-integrated into the health care system.” She adds that “this has resulted in safe outcomes for babies whose birth was planned at home and lower rates of obstetrical intervention.”

In addition, BORN Ontario recently released its evaluation of the Ottawa and Toronto birth centres and found birth outcomes (i.e., safety and decreased need for intervention) in these locations were consistent with home birth outcomes in Ontario. Together, the new guideline and the birth centre report provide families with more easily accessible evidence to inform their decisions about where to give birth and show that out-of-hospital birth is a safe option.

Currently, midwives are the only health-care providers in Ontario who are trained to attend low-risk births at home and other out-of-hospital settings. Choice of birthplace is fundamental to Ontario midwives’ model of care.

To set up an interview, please contact:
Amber Lepage-Monette
Communications Officer
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-425-9974 x2239
amber.lepage-monette@aom.on.ca

TORONTO – Midwives and government each make opening statements today at a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) hearing regarding pay equity for midwives.

This legal action, brought by the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) on behalf of close to 800 midwives, alleges that midwives have experienced gender discrimination in their pay, set by the government, for nearly two decades.

AOM legal counsel Mary Cornish will argue that midwives comprise a profession of women providing care to women for a woman’s health experience (pregnancy, labour and birth), and as such, midwifery compensation has been undervalued through this *trifecta of discrimination.

Elizabeth Brandeis, President of the Association of Ontario Midwives and a registered midwife, notes, “Despite numerous promises to address the wage gap, this government continues to undervalue midwifery work and continues shirking their responsibility to close the pay equity gap for midwives. We are eager to start proceedings and present our case detailing two decades of discrimination.”

About Midwifery in Ontario
There are more than 900 registered midwives in Ontario, serving communities in 90 clinics across the province. Midwives have privileges at most Ontario hospitals. Since midwifery became a regulated health profession in 1994, more than 150,000 babies have been born under midwifery care, including more than 35,000 births at home.

Midwives are experts in normal pregnancy, birth and newborn care. Midwifery care is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Midwives are university educated and trained in emergency management. Midwifery care is rooted in the most current maternal and newborn care research and evidence.

*While this case focuses on the gender discrimination impact on midwifery pay, not all midwives or midwifery clients are women. Some midwives and clients are trans. Trans people have experienced marginalization, including in health care and in the labour market.

The Association of Ontario Midwives is the professional organization representing midwives and the profession of midwifery in Ontario.

--30—

To set up an interview, please contact:
Juana Berinstein
Director, Policy and Communications
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-371-1468 Email: Juana.berinstein@aom.on.ca
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or visit OntarioMidwives.ca

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 18, 2016) - Midwives live with a gender penalty on their compensation - each and every day. While the provincial wage gap is a staggering 29.4%, the gap for midwives is even wider, at 48%.

Despite numerous promises to address the wage gap, Premier Wynne's government continues to argue that midwives do not even have a right to pay equity (because they are paid through contracts and not as employees). In recognition of Equal Pay Day (April 19), the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) is releasing a video highlighting this hypocrisy.

"Midwives have been left with no option but to point out the hypocrisy of the Wynne government. On one hand, it claims to be committed to closing the wage gap, but on the other, it refuses to address the wage gap for midwives--for which it is directly responsible," says Elizabeth Brandeis, a registered midwife and the AOM President-Elect.

After years of government inaction to address this gap, midwives filed a human rights complaint at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Hearings will begin in June.

Early in its tenure, the Wynne government indicated that closing the wage gap would be a priority and included this as a deliverable in ministerial mandate letters for the Minister of Labour and the Minister responsible for Women's Issues. But they've failed to do that with midwives, even though the province sets midwifery compensation. Instead, her government has decided to spend tax dollars fighting midwives in court.

Equal Pay Day Activities (April 19):

The AOM will release a short video highlighting the hypocrisy between what the government is saying about pay equity and how midwives are being treated.

AOM President-Elect Elizabeth Brandeis, RM, will be speaking at a rally coordinated by the Equal Pay Coalition. She will be speaking at the northwest corner of College Street and University Avenue at 12:30 p.m. Brandeis will be available for media interviews.

About Midwifery in Ontario

There are more than 800 registered midwives in Ontario, serving communities in 90 clinics across the province. Midwives have privileges at most Ontario hospitals. Since midwifery became a regulated health profession in 1994, more than 150,000 babies have been born under midwifery care, including more than 35,000 births at home.

A midwife is a registered health-care professional who provides primary care to those with low-risk pregnancies. Midwives provide care throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and provide care to both mother and baby during the first six weeks following the birth.

The Association of Ontario Midwives is the professional organization representing midwives and the profession of midwifery in Ontario.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or visit OntarioMidwives.ca

Contact Information:
To set up an interview, please contact:
Juana Berinstein
Director, Policy and Communications
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-371-1468
Juana.berinstein@aom.on.ca

TORONTO, April 15, 2016 – The Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) is very pleased to announce the award winners who will be honoured at their 32nd Annual General Meeting and Conference being held at the White Oaks Resort in Niagara-on-the-Lake from May 16-18.

This year’s awards are being presented in three categories: Lifetime Achievement, Media and Hospital Integration.

Toronto midwife Christine Sternberg is the winner of the AOM’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Sternberg has been a teaching midwife and clinical educator for more than 35 years. She is one of the founders and a senior practice partner of Riverdale Community Midwives, was an instructor in the Midwifery Education Program (MEP) at Ryerson University, and was an early innovator of evidence-based medicine and client-centred care.

In particular, she pushed forward the evidence on the safety of vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC), leading the way in VBAC practice in Ontario. She was an early champion of midwifery-led birth centres, and organized a program that provided midwifery care for incarcerated women.

“I feel really privileged to have found work that I am passionate about and that feels like important work to be doing.  I am very pleased and humbled to have been chosen for this award and am reminded of the unique and varied contributions of every single midwife in our amazing community and of all of those who, in various ways, support the work we do,” says Sternberg.

An Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) Chaos and Courage episode about the resurgence of Aboriginal midwifery and the importance of bringing birth back to Indigenous communities has won the Media Award. The episode was directed by Ava Karvonen and written by Tihemme Gagnon.

“There’s a resurgence of moving birth back into communities in the north because for so long women have been going down south and leaving all that ritual that’s associated with birth and not having the support of family. So it was really important to tell that part of the story about bringing birth back to communities with the support of midwifery,” says Karvonen.

Michael Garron Hospital (previously Toronto East General Hospital) has been selected for the Hospital Integration Award. This award is presented to an Ontario hospital that demonstrates excellence in successfully integrating midwives into its organization. Michael Garron Hospital has a Department of Midwifery (which includes a voting seat on the Medical Advisory Committee) and midwives who have privileges at the hospital are actively involved in decision-making and policy development and work to their full scope of practice.

“We are honoured and thrilled to receive this award for 2016.  At MGH we support innovative and collaborative ways of delivering care that support patient choice and involvement in decision making.  We know that high quality maternal and newborn care is the foundation for a healthy beginning for babies and their families. And we are truly delighted to have the midwifery team as partners in ensuring service excellence to our community,” says Linda Young, Director of Maternal Newborn Child, Mental Health, Interprofessional Practice and Organizational Learning at Michael Garron Hospital.

To set up interviews with award winners or to attend conference sessions, please contact:

Jill-Marie Burke
Communications Officer, Association of Ontario Midwives
416-425-9974 x2257 or jill-marie.burke@aom.on.ca

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 19, 2016) - Midwives are deeply disappointed that settlement discussions with government, which began in October, have not led to a resolution of the human rights claims brought forward to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) in 2013.

As a result of settlement talks ending without resolution, legal counsel for both the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) will meet this Friday, February 19, 2016 and resume the process to have our case heard by the HRTO.

The application to the tribunal, brought by the AOM on behalf of close to 800 midwives, alleges that midwives have experienced a gender penalty in their pay set by the government for almost two decades. (Read a summary of the application here).

The work midwives do has not been valued or appropriately compensated relative to the skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions of other health-care professionals paid by the MOHLTC. Government claims it does not need to do so because midwives are paid through contracts rather than as employees.

Midwives would like nothing more than to resolve our human rights claim, but we cannot do so unless government:

• acknowledges the pay equity gap midwives have faced for the last 20 years;

• takes steps to close the pay equity gap; and

• provides a mechanism to ensure pay equity for midwives is maintained in the future.

It has been more than two years since our application was filed, and the government has still not taken any action to address these issues.

As the most female-dominated health profession in the province, midwives had hoped that government's overall commitment to close Ontario's gender pay gap, which stands at 31.5%, could have been translated into action to close the midwifery pay gap. We are puzzled by Premier Wynne's mandate to Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues Tracy MacCharles to come up with solutions to close the pay gap on the one hand, while on the other hand, the MOHLTC denies midwives are entitled to a pay equity process and adjustments to remedy their inequitable pay. Instead, this government will spend tax dollars on expensive and drawn out legal process to fight against pay equity for midwives.

Our request to Premier Wynne and her government has been simple: ensure midwifery pay is free of a gender penalty.

"Government's funding and compensation practices produce systemic discrimination in compensation - a discrimination I experience every time I receive payment for my work. My human rights are being violated," says Elizabeth Brandeis, a registered midwife in Toronto.

To set up an interview, please contact:
Juana Berinstein
Director, Policy and Communications
Association of Ontario Midwives
Cell: 416-371-1468
Juana.berinstein@aom.on.ca

Media Advisory

Toronto-Queen's Park

May 5th is International Day of the Midwife. It is a global day to recognize the role of midwives around the world.  Sophie Kiwala, MPP for Kingston & the Islands will stand and read a statement recognizing the midwives of Ontario. There will be a delegation of midwives in the house for the reading and a photo opportunity.

In Ontario, there are more than 700 registered midwives, serving communities in 90 clinics across the province. Midwives have privileges at most Ontario hospitals. Since midwifery became a regulated health profession in 1994, more than 160,000 babies have been born under midwifery care, including more than 35,000 births at home.

What: Statement at Queen’s Park to recognize Ontario midwives
Who:  Sophie Kiwala, MPP for Kingston & the Islands
When: Tuesday, May 5th at 3:00 p.m.

For further information:

or to set up an interview, please contact: Juana Berinstein, Director, Policy and Communications, Association of Ontario Midwives, Cell: 416-371-1468, Juana.berinstein@aom.on.ca