BORN wishes to convey their sympathy to the young couple who
suffered a fetal loss and who seemed unable to access the care they
were seeking and needing. BORN awaits the outcome of the investigation announced
by QEH realizing that, whatever that outcome, bleeding in pregnancy is
frightening and a miscarriage is accompanied by pain, disappointment,
and sadness.
The issue of loss in pregnancy is one that concerns both BORN
and other volunteer groups concerned with maternity care. We have
raised the issue at meetings before and would love to see P.E.I
follow in the steps of other health districts which have a clear
policy that if a woman arrives at an ER and is suspected of loss in
pregnancy that she be allowed to wait in a quiet separate area and
provided with professional support and follow up care. It is BORN’s
position that the QEH provides the highest standard of care to
Islanders and without knowing the facts of the case, we do not seek
to place blame on any particular individual or the staff at the QEH.
We do feel it appropriate to state at this time that there are better
systems in place and hope they will be applied in the future. It
should also be noted that as Midwives provide prenatal care as
primary caregivers, they are available to clients when issues arise in
a pregnancy for a timely assessment of the situation. BORN, as a
committed group of volunteers, will continue to work toward obtaining
more birthing choices for pregnant women on PEI.”

The BORN Co-operative has received a positive response from the Health Minister. Her Hon. Carolyn Bertram has confirmed that the Department of Health in PEI will set up a Midwifery Implimentation Task Force. Your comments on our Petition were a huge help. Read all the great comments on the copy of the Petition here. midwifery-and-doula-care-for-pei_052310

Canadian Public Health has put up a great new web site for Mom’s and Babies http://you-and-your-baby.cpha.ca/

Moms, Experts Say Relaxation Is Key to Pleasurable Childbirth
By JUJU CHANG and GAIL DEUTSCH
Dec. 9, 2008

View the short video news segment at this link:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6120045&page=1

BORN is having it’s first member meeting of the new year on Tuesday, January 13th at 6:30. We are always welcome to new members, so please contact us for more information if you would like to attend.

We will be focusing on our upcoming meeting with the Provincial Health Department regarding midwifery legislation and a review or our overall 2009 Agenda.

In other news, we have added a new listing under Resources for Families. It is a support group for women who have experienced the loss of an infant through miscarriage or other complications, called Broken Hearts - Shattered Dreams. Their contact information is listed under Support Groups.

We are planning to have a productive year and hope that we will make some major headway with the new Liberal Government on the Midwifery issue. Please check in often for updates on our progress over the coming year!

Happy New Year,

From Members of BORN