On Thursday June 9th at 12:00pm (noon) there will be a rally in front of Dalton McGuinty’s constituency office at 1795 Kiborn Ave (Alta Vista) in support of pay equity for midwives.
If you have any questions please contact Kim Elmslie. For more information about pay equity for midwives visit www.ontariomidwives.ca.
We’ll see you on Thursday because Midwives are Worth It!
The Midwifery Group of Ottawa and The Midwifery Collective are hosting this year’s Annual Midwifery Picnic. It will be held on Saturday, June 18th from 11 am to 2 pm at the Andrew Haydon Park “Gazebo” located on Carling by Holly Acres Road (please take note that the location has changed since last year). Dessert and drinks will be provided but please bring your own picnic lunch.
CSMC volunteers will be present to sell onesies and buttons.
All are invited and we hope to see you there!
May 4th – The Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) officially launched its birth centres election campaign gearing up for the provincial election coming in October. For more information, visit the AOM website page: http://www.aom.on.ca/Communications/Media_Relations/Ontario_Needs_Birth_Centres.aspx
May 4th – The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) issued a News Release reiterating its support for publicly-funded, well-integrated midwifery. View the SOGC PDF for details.
May 5th – The Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM) issued a Press Release on the walks held across Canada in honour of the International Day of the Midwife. See:
http://www.canadianmidwives.org/27-news/May-5-2011-Press-Release-International-Day-of-the-Midwife.html
May 5th – CBC Television covered the launch of the Ontario Midwives Birth Centres Campaign. For more details see:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/05/05/ontario-midwives.html
May 5th – Radio Canada had a segment on Birth Centres for Ontario (in French). See: http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/ontario/emissions/emission.asp?pk=928
(click on May 5th on the calender. The segment on birth centres start around 16 minutes in and it lasts about 2 minutes)
**** THIS SPRING ****
“Consumers Supporting Midwifery Care” is presenting a Midwifery Information Session
PREGNANT OR PLANNING TO HAVE CHILDREN SOMEDAY?
INTERESTED IN HAVING A MIDWIFE AS YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER?
COME AND LEARN ABOUT MIDWIFERY IN A COMFORTABLE AND RESPECTFUL SETTING:
Blackburn Hamlet Medical Dental Centre.
East Ottawa Midwives
2575 Innes Road, Ottawa, ON (Blackburn Hamlet)
Telephone: 613.590.1711
sages-femmes@bellnet.ca
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
7:30-8:30pm
No registration required.
Children welcome.
Free parking.
Website: www.midwiferyconsumers.org
Email: mary.beatty@ocdsb.ca
Telephone: 613-729-7278
Consumers Supporting Midwifery Care
Cordially invites you to our Midwifery Information Session
Pregnant or planning a family? Interested in having a midwife as your healthcare provider?
When: Thursday, February 3rd 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where: Milkface Nursingwear – Westboro location
445 Churchill Ave, Ottawa, www.milkface.com p:613-596-1170
What: No Registration Required. Children Welcome. Light Refreshments.
Why:
Need more info, please contact: Mary Beatty
Email: mary.beatty@ocdsb.ca
Phone: 613-729-7278
Next Midwifery information session for women and their partners and families
from 7:00-8:00pm on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Ruth E. Dickinson Library, 100 Malvern Drive
Ottawa ON K2J 2G5
613-580-2796
No registration required.
Children welcome.
Free parking.
Learn more about Midwifery in a relaxed setting;
Network with others asking the same questions;
Meet and interact with local midwives;
Talk to Families who have had midwives;
Ask your questions and get answers.
For more information, please click here or contact Mary by email: mary.beatty@ocdsb.ca or by phone: 613-729-7278
CSMC’s 16TH ANNUAL PICNIC WILL BE HELD SATURDAY MAY 29TH, 2010
FROM 11:00 until 14:00 AT BRITANNIA PARK TROLLEY STATION.
Your presence, as always, would be most welcome and appreciated. We will have the usual banners, balloons, cake etc. Contact me with comments, ideas etc.
Thanks for your continued activism, energy, and support on the behalf of midwifery in Ottawa.
Love, Teresa Bandrowska
Opportunity to share birth stories and contribute to the “International Library of Birth Truths”
August 10, 2009 (Ottawa) – Running concurrently with the Ottawa premiere of the play “Birth”, join the Ottawa Consumers Supporting Midwifery Care (CSMC) in the BOLD “Red Tent” – a gathering of women, telling of birth experiences and offering of resources related to childbirth in the Ottawa region, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event takes place on Saturday, on Saturday, Aug. 15 between the matinee and evening performances of “Birth” at St. Paul’s University Atrium, 223 Main Street.
“Birth”, the staged production taking place each night at St. Paul’s Auditorium tells eight fictionalized birth stories. The CSMC “Red Tent” offers the opportunity to share our community’s own birth stories, bringing the art of the play to the reality of our community experience. Participants are encouraged to bring artwork, poetry, birth stories – any form of creative expression of the birth experience – that they would like to share. Contributions will be recorded (in film, written word or photography) and included in the BOLD “International Library of Birth Truths.”
BOLD “Red Tents” are part of an arts-based global movement to make maternity care mother-friendly. Founder Karen Brody says, “Given today’s crisis in maternity care, where one woman dies every minute due to pregnancy and childbirth-related causes, I feel it’s time to give the microphone to the mothers so they can tell the story of maternity care today.”
BOLD “Red Tent” gatherings send their findings to everyone from politians and health departments to well-known international figures in a plea to listen to mothers when it comes to maternity care options. In addition, Brody’s play “Birth” is performed around the world as a fundraiser for local groups.
Admission to the Ottawa “Red Tent” is a pay-what-you-can donation in support of the International Breech Birth Conference.
BACKGROUND INFO:
The International Breech Birth Conference is presented by the consumer advocacy group, Coalition for Breech Birth (CBB). A sliding makes this international conference exceptionally accessible to consumers. An encore of “Birth” and a scaled-down version of CSMC’s “Red Tent” will be featured at the Breech Birth Conference. Info: www.breechbirth.ca
Consumers Supporting Midwifery Care (CSMC) is a grassroots group of Ottawa area consumers advocating for midwifery and availability of birth choices to women in the region. Info: www.midwiferyconsumers.org
BOLD (Born on Labour Day) – “Red Tent” gatherings and the play “Birth” – Info: www.boldaction.org
Attention all High School Guidance and Family Studies Departments, College Nursing Programs, and Medical Schools!
If you are looking for informative guest speakers to come and talk to your students about Midwifery Care in Ontario, Consumers Supporting Midwifery Care would be happy to help.
One-hour Midwifery Information sessions targeted at educational program students are ongoing throughout Ottawa, and surrounding areas. Midwifery care can be explained to students, as well as details regarding pregnancy, labour, and post-partum care options when using Midwifery care in Ontario. Please e-mail us at: info@midwiferyconsumers.org to set up your free in-house information session.
High School Visits: Specific clinics that are already doing High School talks and visits are the Midwifery Group of Ottawa &the Midwifery Collective. Contact them directly for more information.
Midwifery Group of Ottawa
265 Carling Avenue, Suite 700 on the NW corner of Carling and Bronson
Telephone: (613) 729-9957
E-mail: midwives@cyberus.ca
Midwifery Collective of Ottawa
150 Montreal Road, Suite #210
Telephone: (613) 730-2323
E-mail: midwives@istar.ca
85 000 BABIES AND COUNTING!
CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF RECOGNIZED MIDWIFERY IN ONTARIO
Ottawa midwives TO HOLD ANNUAL FAMILY PICNIC AT BRITANNIA PARK
ON SUNDAY, JUNE 7 2009.
The Ottawa area midwives are holding their annual family picnic on Sunday, June 7, from 11am to 2pm, rain or shine. The picnic brings together midwives from Ottawa area practices (The Midwifery Group of Ottawa, Sages-Femmes de Prescott-Russell, and Midwifery Collective of Ottawa), parents and children, as well as friends and supporters of midwifery. Everyone is welcome!
Bring a picnic lunch (cake will be served at the event) and join us at the Trolley Station in Britannia Park.
This year, we are celebrating 15 years of recognized midwifery in Ontario!
Midwifery became a regulated health profession in 1994. There are currently 435 Registered Midwives in Ontario, serving women and communities in 72 clinics across the province. Over 85 000 babies have been born under midwifery care since 1994, including over 20,000 births at home.
Midwives provide high quality maternity care to Ontario women and their babies. Midwives are primary care providers, and their services are fully funded by the province. According to a recent Ministry of Health evaluation, midwives have a 98% satisfaction rate: this is one of the reasons that the demand for their services is so high.
Despite recent efforts to increase the number of registered midwives, access to midwifery care in Ontario continues to be a challenge for expecting women: 4 out of 10 women wishing to deliver their babies with midwives were turned away last year. Demand for midwifery in Ontario simply outpaces the supply.
Midwives in Ontario have staff privileges in 70 hospitals, with the goal of allowing women to choose to give birth at home or in a hospital setting. Hospital privileges for midwives are a key element in providing women with real birth care choices. Increasing the number of midwives that can deliver in hospitals continues to be a challenge in the Ottawa area, as elsewhere in Ontario, with hospitals capping the number of midwives having access to their maternity wards.
Ontario needs more midwives with hospital privileges to respond to the growing need expressed by expecting women for high-quality, community-based maternity care.
Come join us on Sunday June 7 at Britannia Park to show your support or to find out more!
Contact person:
Teresa Bandrowska
Midwifery Group of Ottawa
613-729-9957