Winnipeg birth centre safety questioned

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s new birth centre hasn't opened yet but already some are questioning its safety.

The $3.5-million centre will open its doors in the next few weeks on St. Anne's Road. It will be run by midwives with no doctors on staff, and one mother calls that dangerous.

In 1996, Liese Dorber's son, Collin, died hours after he was was born. He had complications and it took 13 hours to get him to the Health Sciences Centre. But by then it was too late.

An inquest into Collin's death recommended the addition of a staff pediatrician and improvements to neo-natal equipment, personnel and transport issues.

One year later, the WRHA closed its birth centre at the Victoria Hospital.

Dorber is angry the province funded the new birth centre, to be run without doctors or drugs, despite the findings of the inquest.

"I've been wondering about the ethics of this. How could they make this decision?" she said.

However, the WRHA denies the decision to close the Victoria birth site was related to the inquest report.

The WRHA acknowledges the centre doesn't have the same resources as a hospital — that it is equivalent to a home birth — and women will be told this so they can make an informed choice.

Joan Dawkins, who runs the new birth centre, said her site will be perfectly safe.

"The midwives are highly trained professionals in terms of their ability to manage an emergency and we believe we have a safe and reliable system to get women to hospital if they need it," she said.

Dorber begs to differ.

"Every second counts. It's never enough, no. It's got to be right there," she said.

Birth centre staff admit they have not read the inquest report.

Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald said she is confident the centre will be safe for babies and mothers.

"The birth centre, which will be run by midwives, will be intended for those moms who were already contemplating and [are], indeed, candidates for a home birth," Oswald told CBC News on Monday.

Proponents of midwife-assisted and natural birth have been fighting for such a centre for years.

Only mothers who are considered low risk for complications will be allowed to deliver their babies at the centre. And the site was chosen after broad consultations with stakeholders — women, midwives, health professionals, she noted.

"The design of these rooms and much of the facility was done by midwives, members of the community, and staff of Women's Health Clinic and experts who know things like infection control," said Dawkins.

"So it's a real balance of safety and high-quality service with the comfort of families in the facility."

The centre is expected to handle 500 births every year.