Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – Accès Sage-femmes Baie-des-Chaleurs highlights the progress made in developing the midwifery service, which was established five years ago. 

“There was a citizen mobilization 10 years before the service took shape. A first midwife was hired to develop the service, which was set up in 2019 to provide pregnancy follow-ups,” recalls the organization’s spokesperson, Caroline Hamelin. 

The service has caught-on, with around thirty follow-ups each year, representing approximately 10% of births in the Bay of Chaleur area, quite high compared to the Quebec average of 4%. “The service is very popular. The objective in Quebec was 10% while it is at 4%,” notes Ms. Hamelin. 

“People are very satisfied with the service. Sometimes, there is a waiting list because the demand is high,” illustrates the spokesperson. 

According to the organization, a stabilization phase is necessary to maintain the service.“There’s a certain amount of turnover due to hiring conditions, which is also the case across Quebec, and there’s also the distance from major centres. There’s also a minimum number of midwives needed to avoid a break in service so that people can choose where they want to give birth. Two midwives are required to have a home birth. On-call midwives are needed for that,” says Ms. Hamelin. 

There’s a strong possibility of offering a place to give birth outside of a hospital centre, but the volume of births in the Gaspésie does not allow the creation of a Birthing Centre. “It’s the number one choice for families where it’s available as a place to give birth. In the Gaspésie, 70% of families say it would be their first choice if there was a place outside of a hospital,” says the spokesperson. 

Accès Sage-femmes is monitoring the development of a birthing room in Gaspé with interest. “There are different regions that are working on developing a birthing room outside of a hospital. It has to be a model that takes into account the regional reality. We’re looking at what’s happening elsewhere to try to find a model that could work in our situation,” says Ms. Hamelin. 

Currently, the service has two midwives and a midwife who coordinates the service. At one point, there were four midwives in the Bay of Chaleur area. “The goal is to have enough midwives to be able to offer the service (to everyone who wants it),” concludes the spokesperson.