About Midwifery Care
Registered midwives are healthcare professionals who specialize in the care of pregnancy, birth, and the weeks following birth. Midwifery care is free to residents of BC.
During your pregnancy, a midwife will provide all of the essential healthcare you require, such as ordering laboratory tests, ultrasounds and prescriptions, and care for you during labour and birth. Midwives also provide extensive support to the new family, including breastfeeding support. Midwifery care also includes:
miscarriage support
specialty + consultant referrals
connecting you to community resources
managing transport to higher levels of care
early postpartum home visits
Our midwives work in two teams of two midwives for pregnancy and postpartum. We have a shared maternity call group at qathet General Hospital where we alternate being on-call between 4 midwives and 2 family doctors. A midwife is on-call for you 24/7 for all urgent prenatal and postpartum concerns, and for those planning a home birth.
The word qathet means “working together”; it was generously gifted to the local Regional District by the Tla’amin Nation. An important goal of qathet midwifery care is to work together with clients to meet their needs and support their healthcare decisions.
