New Brunswick’s first registered midwife has started work in Fredericton, the province’s midwifery demonstration site, though she isn’t able to offer clinical care yet.
Vice president of NB Families for Midwives Rachelle Lanteigne says that’s because lead midwife Melissa Langlais, who came to Fredericton by way of Nova Scotia but is originally from Grand Falls, New Brunswick, is waiting on a practice location and the hiring of three other midwives to complete the team.
“She’s the only one that’s been hired so far so we’re still waiting to hear about the hiring of the three other midwives that were promised,” says Lanteigne, “so because she’s alone right now she’s working at setting up the practice, ordering material and things like that. But she can’t offer care to families right away.”
Lanteigne says that provincial health minister Victor Boudreau promised full implementation in four to six months and we’re now at the five month mark.
“We do really want to get that first practice in Fredericton set up and ready to go as soon as we can. We want to have those families in Fredericton that have been waiting for years, we want to have them to be able to access care,” she says.
NB Families for Midwives also wants to see that practice be followed up by other practices around the province.
