This letter is taken from the July edition of DONA’s eDoula newsletter.
Greetings from your Newfoundland SPAR
By Jillian Hand Humphries, CD(DONA)
Hello from Newfoundland and Labrador!
There have been a lot of changes happening
here in the city of St. John’s lately. Let’s start with the good news!
Midwifery legislation is finally in the works for our eastern province. The first reading
of the bill to legislate midwifery as part of an umbrella legislation occurred on
May 6. Two more readings are needed and will likely happen before the summer. A
core group of professionals will be ready to take this on in the fall and then the
act will be proclaimed into law. This is a great first step; however, we still have
a long way to go. The continued lobbying for midwifery services implementation will
be a key factor in moving forward and offering midwifery as an equal choice for
women.
On a sadder note, St. John’s is losing its only midwife. This remarkable woman has
been offering women the option of homebirth despite the lack of legislation, and
in June she will be moving on to another province. As a Doula Collective, we wonder
what the impact of this may be for those women who are determined to have their
babies at home. One can only wait and see. All the same, we wish her the best of
luck and can only hope for her return in future.
The Doula Collective NL continues to remain busy with doula requests and lobbying
efforts. A gap we have identified is the lack of postpartum doulas that are available.
We are hoping that within the next year, there will be more postpartum doulas trained
and ready to assist in filling this gap for the women and new families of this
province.
For more information about the Doula Collective NL, please visit our web site
http://www.doulacollectivenl.ca/
A note from me: For those of us in Nova Scotia the above scenerio sounds all too familiar. If you are a doula, a midwife or a self-avowed birth junkie please send a note of support to our sisters in Nfld & Lbr. *sorry for the crazy structure of the letter, it didn’t translate well from email to blog 
*
Posted on July 15th, 2010 by Shannon
Filed under: Canadian Birth Community, International Birth Community, Medical studies & updates
I’m from Ethiopia and Bsc midwifery. This is the first time to join with you. I want updates on Midwifery via email.
thank you!!!!!
Hi Abebe,
I am very happy that you found Halifax Birth but unfortunately, I am not a reliable resource for midwifery updates. I generally pass along any updates that cross my desk but I don’t actively search out midwifery news.
If you are interested in news about Canadian miderwifery a better resource is http://www.canadianmidwives.org
Good luck in your career!
Thank you for sharing Shannon….
I look forward to support women birthing solo in St. John’s in a few weeks, and those families in need of postpartum support.
I’m so pleased that the legislation has gone through, lots still to do, but a great step in the right direction.
An interesting time for birth rights in the Maritimes.
Warmly,
Amber