Midwives host educational event in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 

On December 8, the AOM hosted its annual midwifery education day – Midwives in the Legislative Assembly – at Queen’s Park. 

Midwives educated MPPs on the alignment between addressing midwifery sustainability issues and Ontario’s broader health system goals, as advocated in the AOM’s Roadmap to Health System Integration report. Political Action Lead (PAL) midwives called on MPPs to leverage midwifery expertise to ease the primary care crisis and improve access to families across the province. Midwives championed increased investments for education, support for Indigenous-led apprenticeships and expansion of midwifery-led services across the province. 

MPPs from across party lines made remarks on midwifery’s contributions to improving equity, quality, and value-driven, client-centred care in Ontario’s health system. Elected representatives met face-to-face with midwifery clients and babies from their ridings to learn about the positive impacts of midwifery care in their local context. 

Indigenous midwifery was represented by AOM staff  Leila Monib, Director of Indigenous Midwifery (IM), Donika Stonefish, IM Policy Analyst, and Tammy Cascagnette, Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist, and Six Nations IM midwifery apprentice Nancy Peters. Key messages of the day were delivered by AOM President Althea Jones, Vice President Bounmy Inthavong, and Board Member-at-Large Sofia Al Balkhi, as well as PAL midwives Michelle Brawley, Betty-Anne Daviss, Meagan Furnivall, Genevieve Gagnon, Manavi Handa and Lisa Thacker. 

Midwifery Education Program (MEP) students Fatima Abid, Daniel McElroy and Catherine O’Halloran supported advocacy for increased education funding. 

Other AOM staff in attendance included Co-CEOs Ellen Kanikatsitsa Blais and Juana Berinstein, and representatives from the Government, Labour and Public Relations team Elizabeth Brandeis, Anna Ianovskaia, Devi Krieger and Rochelle Miller. Representatives from the College of Midwives and the MEP supported a cohesive sector message on the need for systems change. 

President Althea Jones called for necessary investments required to support the sustainability of the midwifery workforce – through strategic, incremental growth, strengthened university programs, Indigenous apprenticeship models, recruitment and retention supports, and effective integration of midwives in broader health-human-resources planning. Althea invited all MPPs to deepen partnerships with midwives, listen closely to the expertise of their midwifery constituents and join in building a future where midwifery can flourish as a cornerstone of primary care. 

Donika Stonefish reminded MPPs and midwives that the foundation of our principles of democracy are modeled on the Haudenosaunee Confederacy governance structures. She asked participants to come together with a good mind and a commitment to understand the challenges, strengths and possibilities for collaboration to improve health care for all, to support Indigenous people, and to support the most vulnerable people within our community. 

Honorable Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security and MPP for Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry welcomed midwives to the Legislature on behalf of the sponsoring PC party. Quinn emphasized the essential role midwives play in Ontario’s health-care system as compassionate caregivers, educators, and partners supporting families during pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.  

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickle Belt and NDP Health Critic, acknowledged the marked lack of access to midwifery care compounded by the closure of the Laurentian midwifery education program site, particularly for Indigenous and Francophone communities. Gélinas spoke passionately about the positive impact of Indigenous midwives in supporting Indigenous families to thrive. Gélinas urged midwives to continue to advocate loudly for systems change, concluding, “Midwives, people love you. You are a win, win, win to our health-care system!” 

Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East, Liberal Health Critic for Primary Care, Urgent Care and Public Health, and physician at Michael Garron hospital, commented on the exceptional and transformational care provided by his midwifery colleagues. Shamji spoke on the many ways midwives’ expertise can be harnessed and expanded in urban, rural and First Nations communities. Shamji emphasized that midwives in Ontario “deserve our respect, our admiration and our support so they can continue to deliver the exceptional patient care that helps create and save lives.”  

MPP Aislinn Clancy, Green Party representative for Kitchener Centre, upheld personal experiences of midwifery care as a model that best supports low-risk pregnancy and intrapartum care, freeing up specialists for the most complex cases. Clancy highlighted the need for expansion of midwifery funding and the high quality of cultural safety midwifery care provides. 

The AOM thanks all Political Action Lead midwives, clients and supporters who made the event a success. We thank all MPPs who attended and engaged in key issues and look forward to deepening relationships to advance midwifery growth, improve community access to care and secure investment in midwifery education and Indigenous-led apprenticeship pathways.