Royal Alex in-house midwifery program being moved to Fort Saskatchewan

The Alberta Association of Midwives says moving a program from Edmonton to Fort Saskatchewan could leave a gap in care.

An in-house midwifery program at the Royal Alexandra Hospital is being moved to the Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital.

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The affected midwives, which Primary Care Alberta (PCA) did not number when confirming the change to CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday, supported community midwives and their birth clients who arrived at the central Edmonton hospital.

“These midwives have transitioned to Fort Saskatchewan to better meet demand in that area, where access to consistent maternity services is more limited,” a PCA spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“At Fort Saskatchewan, midwives are now integrated into the maternity care team, providing 24/7 low-risk labour, birth, postpartum, and newborn care for communities in the east Edmonton corridor and surrounding rural areas.”

The number of midwives registered in the Edmonton area remains the same at 56.

Although the change means an increase in midwifery service in a smaller city, the president of the Alberta Association of Midwives (AAM) says it will leave more work at the Royal Alex to obstetricians and does not benefit the province’s plan to attract more midwives.

“The benefit to the government of Alberta focusing on midwifery care is effective use of health-care dollars and the ability for midwives to go to communities where low-risk birth is happening, bringing birth back to the community,” AAM’s Marita Obst, a registered practicing midwife, said.

“We have the ability to keep people out of the acute care system, where there is currently a huge backlog: keeping people out of emergency rooms, out of hospital beds when they don’t need to be there.”

She said the association is talking to the provincial government about its midwife strategy and is hopeful about coming up with a plan to increase workforce stability and meet demand.

According to AAM, 60 per cent of Alberta births happen in a hospital. The remaining 40 per cent may happen at home or a birth centre. The association says only 40 per cent of Albertans who apply to receive midwife care are unsuccessful.

The Alberta government says the number of midwives in the Edmonton area has grown by 40 per cent over the last four years.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg