Ambitious plan: five birthing services

Midwifery centre opening in Aylmer

A Birthing Centre “point of service” will open in Aylmer this September, Quebec announced, June 29. $650,000 is being invested in the Outaouais to expand the midwifery network, about ten per cent of the Quebec budget for these services. The funds will be managed by the Centre de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), which administrates public health-care in Outaouais.

 

Fifteen new midwives will be hired in Outaouais, with two new “point of service” locations opening this year, and another three after that. “Every pre-birth and post-birth consultation can be offered right here in Aylmer,” Pontiac MNA André Fortin told the Bulletin. “There are two locations in Aylmer being considered, but not the CLSC, of course, as it is being used to capacity.”

“Points of service” are not equipped as birthing locations -- the “Maison de naissance” in Old Gatineau and the hospitals accommodate the region’s actual births.

Midwives are licensed to work in birthing centres and hospitals and to attend home births across Quebec. The number of midwives to be working from the Aylmer facility is yet to be determined. “When we have an understanding of the number of families needing midwifery services in Aylmer, we can decide how many new midwives will be working out of the Aylmer point of service,” Fortin added.