What We Do
Cambridge Midwives are health-care professionals who provide government-funded expert primary care to pregnant people and their newborns. Throughout pregnancy, labour, birth and the first 6 weeks after birth you and your baby will be cared for by a small group of midwives. Having a small team of midwives to provide your prenatal care helps to ensure that you have a known and trusted midwife helping you to deliver your baby.
100% Government Funded
Midwives are part of the Ontario health-care system and are completely funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Ontario residents who are not currently covered by OHIP can still receive midwifery care with no charge.
Meet Our Midwives
Our office follows the midwifery model of care which is a practice group of at least 2-4 midwives. We build a relationship with you and provide expert care throughout your pregnancy. Two midwives attend each birth. This model of two midwives at births is unique in Ontario. It is based on the principle of one midwife to care for the mother (The Primary Midwife) and one for the baby (The Second Midwife).
The Benefits of Having a Midwife Team
Your midwifery team endeavors to get to know and understand you and your baby through pregnancy so they can provide the highest level of care to each individual client. The relationship is built upon trust and you can rely on your midwives to support you through every stage of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. They are available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week for emergencies, labour and births. You are in control of your prenatal care and birth experience and have more options for your birth setting. Many midwifery clients have stated that they truly appreciated the in-home postpartum visits during the first week after baby’s arrival, expressing the convenience and comfort of this extraordinary care. Others benefited from the non-authoritarian information sharing, for example; helping them understand proposed testing, and enabling them to fully participate in decision making regarding their prenatal care.
Prenatal and Postpartum Visits
During regularly scheduled visits to the midwifery clinic, midwives provide physical examinations and assessments, support and information. Your midwife can provide you with all the requisitions for routine prenatal care such as blood work, ultrasounds and prenatal testing. Appointments are on average 30-45 minutes long. Prenatal visits are usually four to six weeks for the first 28 weeks, every two to three weeks until 36 weeks and then once a week until your baby is born. After your birth, your midwives provide care…
Labour and Birth
Choosing Cambridge Midwives to provide your care means you and your baby will be cared for by someone you have met before, who knows you and understands what is important to you and your family. Your midwife will monitor both you and your baby closely during labour and birth and are fully trained and prepared for a variety of issues that may arise.Where and how you choose to give birth is a decision that you will make in consultation with your midwife.
Breastfeeding
We offer breastfeeding support and guidance to successfully feed your baby. We help ensure your baby is latching well, positioned correctly and getting enough milk. We also help with information, recommendations or treatments regarding sore nipples, engorgement and other breastfeeding issues. We are here to provide answers and instruction for all your feeding questions.
Area We Service
Our catchment area encompasses a radius of approximately a half hour drive from Cambridge Memorial Hospital. During the first week postpartum, midwifery visits take place at your home, within the catchment area.
Birth Setting
Cambridge Midwives attend births in home and hospital and have admitting privileges at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Regardless of the location you choose, you will receive excellent, safe care from your midwife.
Home Birth Setting
It is well recognized that for healthy women with low risk pregnancies home can be a safe place for birth. Midwives are the only primary care providers in Ontario who receive extensive education and training to help you safely give birth at home. Ontario-based research tells us that midwifery clients who choose home births have many things in common.
They:
- value a birth without medical intervention (if not needed)
- are confident in their ability to give birth
- find their home a supportive and comfortable environment
- feel more in control in their home environment
- prefer to move freely in familiar surroundings
- want to eat and drink as they like
- believe labour will go faster in the comfort of their own home
- prefer to avoid an epidural
- believe recovery from birth will be easier where they are most comfortable
- believe that home birth is safe, responsible choice for themselves and their babies
Hospital Birth Setting
Ontario-based research [1] tells us that midwifery clients who choose hospital birth have many things in common.
They:
- see birth as a natural process
- feel most comfortable in a hospital setting
- feel that the hospital is the safest option in case of emergency
- like the idea of being close to hospital-only medical pain relief options such as epidural
If you are at increased risk for certain complications, giving birth in the hospital is recommended. This is so you have quick access to specialist care (e.g. obstetrician, Pediatrician) and increased monitoring if you and/or your baby need it.
Some examples of when your midwife may recommend a hospital birth include:
- pregnancy-related issues (e.g. a breech baby, gestational diabetes or developing high blood pressure)
- long-term health conditions (e.g. heart disease, bleeding disorders)
- previous birth complications (e.g. stillbirth, a placenta that wouldn’t come out on its own)
Your midwife will help you determine if a hospital birth is recommended based on the health of both you and your baby.
Edited and reprinted with kind permission from: https://www.ontariomidwives.ca/understand-your-options
