N.S. midwives warned not to practise in hospitals

Officials at the IWK Health Centre for Children in Halifax are reminding midwives in Nova Scotia, where legislation regulating the profession hasn't kicked in yet, that they don't have the right to practise in a hospital.

The warning comes after a midwife performed a medical procedure on a pregnant woman in October, and helped her avoid having her baby delivered by Caesarean section.

Alishya McKenna had planned to have the baby at home with a midwife. But, after 28 hours of labour, her midwife decided it was time to go to the IWK centre (named after Izaak Walton Killam).

"Here I [was] … exactly where I didn't want to be... in a Johnny shirt, on a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV, with people bustling around [whom] I don't know, don't trust, [and] I haven't chosen to have there," Alishya said.

When there were complications delivering the baby, which might have meant using a Caesarean section, Alishya asked her midwife to step in.

The midwife performed an internal procedure that successfully allowed the baby to be delivered normally.

But, according to provincial regulations, the midwife should not have been allowed to perform the procedure.

"A choice doesn't always supersede what we must do by law or professional regulation," said Darlene Boliver, director of quality and patient safety at the hospital.  

Boliver has sent an e-mail to all midwives, reminding them they are not allowed to perform medical procedures in a hospital.

That will change when the province implements new midwifery legislation.

The Nova Scotia Midwifery Act received royal assent on Nov. 23, 2006. It is expected all the regulations will be in place and the law will be proclaimed in the spring.

In the meantime, McKenna said she won't have another baby in Nova Scotia until the rules are changed.