What is a midwife?

Midwives are registered health care providers who care for low-risk people in pregnancy, birth and postpartum, as well as their newborns for the first 6 weeks of life.

Midwives are integrated into the health care system and OHIP funded. In Ontario, you can choose either a doctor or a midwife to care for you in your pregnancy, but not both.

If your birth is uncomplicated, your midwife will fulfill the role of both the nurse and doctor, ensuring both you and your baby are well, helping you to birth your baby, and monitoring you both after the postpartum. If complications arise, the midwife will help to grow your team by calling on the appropriate staff to ensure you receive great care.

We love working with doulas. They specialize in supporting people through labour or postpartum. They are a wonderful adjunct to our care, since our primary focus is more clinical.

 

Informed choice matters.

Your midwife will walk you through your options and what the research says - for everything from testing, to medications, to ultrasounds and everything in between. We are here to support you to choose what works for you and your family.

Know your team.

You will have ample opportunity to meet your midwifery team and get to know us. Most of our clients are delivered by a midwife they’ve met before labour, because we know that nothing beats a familiar face on a big day.

Birth where you’re comfortable.

We support deliveries at the Montfort Hospital, the Ottawa Birth and Wellness Centre, and at home.

FAQs

  • Yes! Our services are free for all residents of Ontario, even if you do not have OHIP. Please note we cannot provide care to residents of Quebec.

  • We are authorized to order lab work, ultrasounds and write prescriptions related to your pregnancy. We offer the same standards for routine prenatal care as other health care providers in Ontario. We are also able to manage epidurals and inductions of labour.

  • We support deliveries at the Montfort hospital and at the Ottawa Birth and Wellness Centre and we also do home births.

  • Midwives are specialists in low-risk pregnancy, therefore we may not be the best care provider for you if you already know you have some factors that make your pregnancy high risk. Some pre-existing factors make you not eligible for midwifery care include: pre-existing hypertension, pre-existing diabetes, or a serious organ-related diagnosis. If you unsure about if something makes you not a good candidate for midwifery care please discuss it with your midwife in your first visit.