Promoting Excellence

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Promote Excellence in midwifery practice, reproductive justice, and anti-oppressive approaches to health care by providing resources and learning opportunities through clinical knowledge translation and global health programming.

Midwives will be better equipped to respond and adapt to client needs.

Midwives and Vaccination: Delivering Informed Choice Discussions

CAM has completed a 2-year project, funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, entitled “Vaccination: We CAN Talk About It”. This project aims were to advance the role of midwives in providing vaccination information and resources to their clients. The specific objectives of this project were as follows:

1. Provide context and rationale for midwives’ role in public health immunization education and vaccination programs
2. Help midwives construct the evidence-based and balanced informed choice discussions midwifery clients trust and want their midwives to deliver
3. Teach midwives and provide them with tools to better discuss immunization, including vaccine hesitant clients, about vaccinations. PHAC-commissioned research has shown that midwives may encounter vaccine-hesitant clientele, as well as clientele with less vaccine uptake, more often than other healthcare providers
4. Support midwives to integrate best practice standards in their clinical management of immunization with midwifery clients.

Immunization can be a complex topic, but midwifery clients have expressed their desire for and trust in midwives to facilitate nuanced, evidence-based, and respectful discussions around immunization. We have therefore strived to create materials in both English and French that are balanced, respectful, and helpful.

• Visit our resources “Vaccination: We CAN Talk About It”
• Take our free course Midwifery Immunization Communication developed in partnership with the University of British Columbia Continuing Education Program https://ubccpd.ca/learn/learning-activities/course?eventtemplate=171-midwifery-immunization-communication
• Watch our Webinar: Vaccines – We can talk about it! Visit: https://canadianmidwives.org/vaccines/

Midwives Recognize and Respond to Intimate Family Violence

In 2020, CAM and NACM partnered with McMaster University on a three-year project to build the capacity of midwives to better recognize and respond to family violence. The project is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

In January 2021, the McMaster Midwifery Education Program piloted the educational curriculum it developed on addressing family violence in clinical care. Thirty-eight students, enrolled in the midwifery and physician assistant programs, took the 12-week on-line course. The modular course was later adapted into a two-day workshop targeted to pre-service midwives and students in other health care professions. Twenty-three students completed the interprofessional workshop in September 2021.

Throughout the year, the project team continued to develop professional development content and teaching materials for Indigenous midwives and all midwives. They also consulted the project advisory committee on gender-based violence on the development of practical resources.

More broadly, the project raised awareness about family violence during CAM’s Knovember Conference and the 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

All project activities are informed by the Knowledge Assessment Survey on Family Violence completed by 261 CAM and NACM members. Read the report: https://canadianmidwives.org/family-violence/publications/

At-a-glance:

• 61 students completed the McMaster MEP modular course:
  • 48 midwifery students
  • 13 students in other health care professions
• 262 members completed the knowledge assessment survey

Reach:

• 2,331 CAM members
• 172 NACM members
• 190 midwifery clinics
• 12,000 + social media followers
• 837 pageviews online

Visit https://canadianmidwives.org/family-violence/

What learners are saying:

I learned safer ways to support people without going towards institutions that historically have created harm. And when those institutions may need to be used, I learned how to go about using them in a way that fully involves and supports the client. I also think the training has shown me how much I need to learn but I feel with the resources provided I have a good starting place.

Canadian Journal of Midwifery, Research and Practice (CJMRP)

All members continue to receive the Canadian Journal of Midwifery Research and Practice. Our publication is the only journal dedicated to publishing Canadian midwifery research. To find out more, visit https://www.cjmrp.com/

CAM will offer professional development that responds to member and partner needs.

Launch of CAM Learns

In early 2021 CAM launched a new initiative for members called CAM Learns. This series of online learning and webinars has hosted 10 events to-date on a variety of topics including:

• Midwives and Vaccination: Delivering Informed Choice Discussions
• Investing in midwifery associations to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (2X)
• A Focus on Copper IUDs (in partnership with Searchlight Pharma)
• Film Screening: Voice, Choice, Change

Visit https://canadianmidwives.org/webinars/ to learn more.

Knovember.ca – Our Month to Share Knowledge

In 2021 the annual CAM Conference went virtual again with the return of the online conference, Knovember: our month to share knowledge

The conference was a success with over 337 registrants and 3 full days of live and on-demand programming available throughout the month of November.

Midwives will provide more equitable care to their clients.

Anti-Racism Workshops: Opening Doors, Breaking Down Barriers

CAM worked with consultant Stacey Alderwick to offer four (4) sold-out intensive workshops designed for midwives and midwifery practices and associations. The workshops helped participants assess where they were on their personal and organizational anti-racism journeys, share best practices, and plan strategies to reduce racial inequities and decolonize their practices.

How is CAM Global working with partners to Promote Excellence?

Visit our Global section to see how CAM is supporting national midwifery associations to strengthen midwifery education, provide professional development opportunities and improve quality of care.