My last midwife appointment was more than four years ago, and I still remember the feeling of sadness that settled in me as I walked away from the office after being discharged. Because midwives continue to see you and your newborn for six weeks postpartum, there is a tremendous bond formed between new parent and midwife. I can still picture my cat settling in to the lid of my midwife?s physician bag, as she began a postnatal home visit, and my midwife laughing. She had become like family.
When I was pregnant with my first baby, I chose a midwife because I loved the idea of having support during the postpartum period. I was desperately afraid I wouldn?t be able to breastfeed. When that fear turned into reality and my daughter was unable to latch, my midwife spent countless hours working with me to find feeding solutions I was comfortable with. She rubbed my back as I sobbed and expressed my feelings of failure, and then walked me through finger feeding, cup feeding and using a nipple shield. She taught me how to transition from the nipple shield to directly breastfeeding, and during my final appointment, she shouted with joy as she watched my baby latch directly onto my breast. So when I heard, last week, that the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, under Premier Doug Ford, had eliminated all provincial funding for the College of Midwives of Ontario, my first reaction was anger. Anger, but not surprise.
Amid the online outrage, it was hard to get the facts straig...