November 15, 2022
The Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM) and the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM) met with the federal Minister of Health, The Honorable Jean-Yves Duclos, on November 15, 2022, at CAM’s offices. Minister Duclos came to learn more about midwifery across Canada and midwives’ role in healthcare.
Tonia Occhionero and Josyane Giroux, RM represented CAM, and Claire Dion Fletcher, RM, and Alisha Apale represented NACM.
Among the topics covered were the essential role of midwives in all areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), barriers to the profession, and ways to remove these barriers, notably the lack of a federal occupational classification for midwives within the Treasury Board and the inclusion of midwives in Canada’s Student Loan Forgiveness Program for doctors and nurses. Information about the importance of Indigenous midwifery as a protective force, and an essential path to health equity was also on the agenda
Minister Duclos took a moment to acknowledge the work CAM and NACM are currently engaged in to promote informed choice discussions around vaccination.
Jean-Yves Duclos about the protective force of Indigenous midwifery.
It was a very busy day for everyone involved and another positive step toward increasing midwives’ scope of practice, integrating midwives into all SRHR health offerings, removing barriers to education, and ultimately ensuring health equity for everyone.
We look forward to working more closely with Minister Duclos moving forward.
