After spending months drafting new legislation that would make midwifery a self-regulating profession, the Nova Scotia Department of Health has put its legislative plans on the back burner. Although self-regulation would allow a midwife's services to be covered under the province's medicare plan, it would also require that an effective self-disciplinary process be put in place. According to the minister of health, there are only 4 midwives in all of Nova Scotia, an insufficient number for self-disciplinary action.
"If you had 4 people it would be very difficult," says Health Minister Jamie Muir. "If there was a single disciplinary matter, it would mean there would only be 3 people left to deal with it."
Although the government has scrapped its plans to regulate midwifery, the issue is still on the table. In response to the health minister's announcement, the Association of Nova Scotia Midwives called for a meeting with Muir. That meeting, described as "encouraging" by president Carrie Harlow, leaves the door open for future negotiations.
Last year a report entitled Recommendations for the Regulation and Implementation of Midwifery in Nova Scotia was released by the provincial government. That report, compiled after a year of research and consultation, recommended that midwifery be legally recognized as an autonomous, self-regulated primary health care profession and included as an insured service. The report also recommended that the government financially support the training of midwives in the same way the training of other health care professionals is supported. It also called for the establishment of a college of midwives in the province.
Although not currently recognized as a health procedure that can be billed under medicare, midwifery is recognized as a legal procedure in Nova Scotia.