Bill C-608 (Historical)

National Day of the Midwife Act

An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife

This enactment designates the 5th day of May in each and every year as “National Day of the Midwife”.

National Day of the Midwife Act

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member opposite on this bill. When she came to the health committee with the witnesses, they did a fabulous job. It was very honourable of her to get to this point, and I am looking forward to it going to the Senate.

I have a significant speech I prepared, but I am going to stray from it a bit and highlight some of the points on midwifery.

In August 2013, the Cochrane review, which involved 16,242 women in models of care, including where midwives provided care through pregnancy, during labour, and after birth, and which has one of the highest standards of evidence, confirmed the safety and efficacy of midwifery-led care. It is very important to understand that there is a lot of data on this in Canada, and we are starting to get a lot better at what we do.

Certainly midwives save lives, some 300,000 women each year and 10 times as many infants. That is important to understand too. As midwifery evolves and we get far better at it, we are going to be able to save millions of lives around the world. It is thanks to members opposite and others who have brought this to light that we will be able to do much more in years to come.

According to the Canadian Association of Midwives, a little over 1,300 midwives attend approximately 10% of births in Canada. While these numbers may seem small, it represents tremendous growth.

The practice of midwifery is relatively new in Canada, with the first midwives regulated to practice in 1994. We are only 20 years out since it started. As of 2014, midwives are recognized to practice in eight out of 10 provinces and in two of three territories. We still have a little work to do, but I am sure with the collective work in the House, as well as with the members opposite, we can make that 10 out of 10 and three out of three.

While the government recognizes that primary responsibility for the provision and delivery of health care services in Canada rests with the provinces and territories, we remain committed to a strong, publicly funded, universally accessible health care system for all of Canada.

An evaluation of the midwifery approach to maternal health care in Ontario noted that midwives have lower rates of invasive procedures, fewer re-admissions to hospital, and shorter hospital stays. This translates into a cost saving of $800 per midwifery-attended hospital birth and a saving of $1,800 for home births when compared with family physician care for women with low-risk pregnancies.

Federal recognition of midwives will help to increase the value of this profession in providing maternal care services to women and their families as well as the potential role of midwives in promoting a high-quality and sustainable health care system.

Maternal, newborn, and child health care remains Canada's top international development priority, and we are committed to working with Canadian and international partners toward the goal of ending the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and children under the age of five.

In June 2010, under the Right Honourable Prime Minister's leadership, the G8 launched the Muskoka initiative on maternal, newborn and child health, which aims to save the lives of mothers, newborns, and children. As part of this initiative, Canada committed $2.85 billion between 2010 and 2015 to help women and children in the world's poorest countries.

Midwifery training and service provision is also a key component of our government's support through the G8 Muskoka initiative. Thanks in large part to the Muskoka initiative and subsequent global action, maternal mortality rates are declining, and millions more children are celebrating their fifth birthdays. Access to health care and nutrition is up, and millions of lives continue to be saved each year. This important work will continue.

In May 2014, the right hon. Prime Minister hosted the Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arms's Reach summit. At that summit, Canada committed $3.5 billion for the period of 2015 to 2020 and renewed global momentum to advance maternal, newborn, and child health as a global priority beyond 2015.

Canada will continue to work with our country's partners to advance progress on international maternal health by investing in improved service delivery at the local level, training more health workers, increasing access to adequately equip local health facilities, and expanding access to services.

Since 1991, the International Day of the Midwife on May 5 has been recognized by organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization, to raise awareness of the importance of the role midwives play and the careful care they provide. A national day of the midwife would help to increase awareness of the value of the profession in providing maternal care services to women and their families, both domestically and internationally.

Therefore, I support Bill C-608, which seeks to designate May 5 of each and every year as the national day of the midwife. I invite my hon. colleagues to do the same.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for supporting Bill C-608.

Many of my colleagues in the House have stopped me here in the House, in the hallways or even at the Standing Committee on Health to tell me about their experiences during a birth with a midwife. It is so nice to be able to share that experience together, so that we can better understand midwifery and what that profession entails, and see that it is an option. People do not have to adopt the traditional model. I am paraphrasing here because I think the hospital model is considered to be traditional. It is just great to see how those birthing experiences can vary from one person to another and that they are often wonderful experiences.

I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. She is right: we need to reclaim the birthing experience.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

moved that the bill be now read the third time and passed.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to be in the House today to debate my Bill C-608, the National Day of the Midwife Act.

This has been quite the saga. I am extremely proud that all parties in the House voted unanimously at second reading to send the bill to committee. That was good teamwork, and it is wonderful to see that our Parliament can function and that we can work together on great bills such as the one to establish a national day of the midwife.

First of all, I must thank my colleague from Parkdale—High Park, because in the beginning, she was the one who decided to introduce this bill in the House of Commons. She brought forward the first version and began the debate with members of other parties in the House—Conservatives, Liberals and independents—and with experts and the people directly affected, the midwifery associations. I must commend the work done by my colleague from Parkdale—High Park, because she does not take much credit for it. However, because of her groundwork, today we are talking about a national day of the midwife.

I would like to provide a bit of background, because it shows that MPs are very good at doing the groundwork, representing their constituents and bringing their ideas to Parliament. When my colleague was going door to door, she met a woman belonging to a midwifery association who told her about the important work midwives do. She told the member for Parkdale—High Park about their intentions and the fact that midwifery was not yet recognized in every Canadian province and territory, but that they were working on it.

Canadian universities have some of the best midwifery training programs in the world. We can also be proud of that. There are currently 1,300 midwives in Canada, and only 2% to 5% of the population has access to their services. It is thus very difficult and the demand is growing. However, every year, more and more midwives are entering the workforce, and we can only be very proud.

My colleague saw all that potential. She was determined that we should recognize the work of midwives and help them further themselves. She decided to work with people in her riding and across the country to establish a national day of the midwife. I am extremely proud to take up the torch and ensure that this bill is passed as soon as possible. However, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge her tremendous work on the ground.

As I said, all the parties in the House voted in favour of this bill. We had the chance to go to committee. I presented my bill to the hon. members of the Standing Committee on Health, where it was very well received. They also agreed to hear from witnesses directly affected by this bill. I had the opportunity to appear with the Canadian Association of Midwives and the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives, which also does extraordinary work.

I want to take few minutes to talk about the NACM, because this bill affects them a great deal. Access to midwifery services is particularly crucial in rural and remote communities, including among first nations.

Currently, when a women living on reserve becomes pregnant, the delivery process is not necessarily the same as in large urban centres. Here, the choice is much simpler. We can choose to be seen by a doctor, we can go to the hospital and be accompanied by a doula, or we can give birth at home or at a birthing centre with a midwife. We have a lot of options. Access to some of these options is still limited, but we have them.

For first nations, it is much more complicated.

A few weeks before giving birth, a pregnant woman has to be airlifted to a large urban centre. She is alone. She does not have her family, her spouse or her children with her. She is far away from her family during those final critical weeks. It is not only extremely sad, but downright terrible that these sorts of things are happening in a country as big and as rich as ours.

A good example that I was given was to imagine a woman who is giving birth to her first child. Like my colleague from Beauharnois—Salaberry and all of the other members who are parents, I know that you do not really know what to expect when you are expecting your first child. It can be extremely stressful. You ask yourself a thousand questions. You read books, watch films and talk to people you know to find out how it is going to go. The last weeks are extremely critical, as are the first few days after the delivery.

Women who are sent to large urban centres are alone. They do not have their family, friends, grandmother, mother or aunt to talk to and consult to find out if what is happening is normal. When they give birth, they are isolated in a large urban centre where they do not know anyone. They are not with their spouse.

The days following delivery can be very difficult. For example, a woman who wants to breastfeed may have breastfeeding problems or questions about breastfeeding in general. She cannot be with her own mother who could have shared her own experience. That is very difficult on these women. They return to their communities, where there is no connection to the birth or to what happened. It is extremely difficult for the family, the woman and the community in general.

We are trying to reintegrate the birthing process into communities, because about 95% of pregnancies are considered normal. There is therefore no need to send women who are preparing to give birth to major urban centres. They can give birth in their community with midwives. This issue is slowly being addressed, based on the province or area where the community is located. However, there is still a long way to go.

I am very pleased to see that all of Parliament has decided that it is very important to acknowledge the incredible work that midwives do. Whether we are talking about midwives in first nations communities or midwives in general all across the country, it is extremely important to acknowledge the work that they do.

Today I simply wanted to rise in the House to thank my colleagues for the good work they are doing and for their goodwill on this bill. I noticed that there was a significant interest in continuing the debate on funding for midwives and in perhaps reviewing the birthing process for women from rural and remote communities.

I saw that all parties in the House showed openness on this issue, and I am extremely proud. I hope that this will continue. If my colleagues once again vote in favour of this bill at third reading, the next step will be the Senate. That will be a whole other experience. For now, I would like to thank Parliament. Why not take this bill as an excellent example of how the opposition and the government can work side by side, and why not continue in this direction for future bills?

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife, as reported (without amendment) from the committee.

Health

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Health in relation to Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House without amendment.

[Ellen Blais, Co-Chair, National Aboriginal Council of Midwives]

Good afternoon. My name is Ellen Kanika Tsi Tsa Blais. I am an aboriginal midwife from the Oneida Nation of the Thames, which is one of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. I am from the Haudenosaunee territory, the people of the longhouse, and I am honoured to be here today as co-chair of the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives, otherwise known as NACM. I want to thank the peoples of the Algonquin nation whose unceded territory I am visiting today.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members, for the opportunity to appear today to testify as part of the committee's study on Bill C-608, an act respecting a national day of the midwife. I would also like to thank the sponsor of the bill, member of Parliament Rosane Doré Lefebvre, who introduced this bill, and who has personally championed the cause of midwifery in Canada and is helping bring to light the challenges we face in our communities. We also extend our gratitude to member of Parliament Peggy Nash for the work she has done to establish a national day of the midwife in Canada.

NACM believes that Bill C-608 is an important step in showing appreciation for the vital contribution that midwives make to the delivery of maternity care in Canada. NACM also believes this bill will bring much needed visibility to the work of aboriginal midwives in supporting health and healing within our communities. Aboriginal midwives have always worked in the community, carrying the cultural knowledge for safe childbirth, yet our work has become almost invisible over the past 100 years due to the medicalization of childbirth. We are working hard to reclaim our role, and legislation such as Bill C-608 offers further support to this essential work.

We would like to thank committee members Dr. Colin Carrie, Dr. Hedy Fry, and members of Parliament Lois Brown and Peggy Nash, who have echoed this appreciation in their statements in the House of Commons. NACM is also grateful to all political parties for the unanimous support the bill has received to date.

NACM's vision is to see aboriginal midwives practising in every aboriginal community. We believe that aboriginal midwives working in every aboriginal community is a safe and cost-effective way to deliver maternity services. Our knowledge and role in protecting, caring for, and honouring women as life-givers are essential for community healing and connect us all.

NACM is a diverse group of indigenous midwives, midwife elders, and student midwives from all regions of Canada. Members include both registered midwives and midwives practising under certain exemption clauses of provincial health legislation. We promote excellence in reproductive care for Inuit, first nations, and Métis women. We advocate for the restoration of indigenous midwifery education and choice of birthplace for all aboriginal communities, consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Aboriginal midwives bring wellness back into the community and enable the creation of sacred, powerful healing spaces. An aboriginal midwife is a committed primary health care provider who is fully responsible for clinical decisions and the management of low-risk prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care. She promotes breastfeeding, nutrition, and parenting skills. She is a leader, mentor, and keeper of ceremonies. Aboriginal midwives work with other health care professionals, including doctors, pediatricians, or other specialists when needed, and advocate for culturally safe care.

In 2012, NACM was recognized by the Health Council of Canada as a promising practice in aboriginal health. There are currently 11 midwifery practices in Canada dedicated to providing care in aboriginal communities. Our work is promising, but the road ahead is long. Today, very few aboriginal communities have access to midwives, and most women give birth outside their communities.

I invite you to take a moment and imagine your families. You are about to become a grandparent for the first time. You are thrilled. You have been waiting for this moment for months, helping your daughter prepare for this beautiful time. You are eager to meet your first grandchild. Your daughter is nervous about the birth and you reassure her. You have made a small gift for the baby and you give it to your daughter when you see her off at the airport. She is flying to Thunder Bay to have her baby as per the evacuation policy, since the community you live in does not have maternity services. You bid her an emotional goodbye. You try to stay in touch by phone over the weeks while she waits for labour to begin and you worry about how you are going to pay for phone bills you cannot afford.

Your family gathers at the home of her husband and awaits the news of the baby's arrival. The next afternoon, you learn that the baby was born by C-section that morning. It's a girl. You and your daughter's husband long desperately to hold the baby, to welcome her. You are told that you will able to in about a week's time.

When your daughter returns, she is emotional and exhausted after a long and lonely four weeks away. She thought that she would breastfeed her baby, as she learned it was the best choice to make, but she was not able to find the support she needed while so far away. You know that she has started to formula-feed her baby, and you once again worry about the cost. You thought you would be overjoyed to meet your grandchild. Instead, you think about how much you have already missed.

This is what birth looks like today in most of our communities. Every day families are separated and women give birth alone, even as a growing body of research points to the health and social costs of this practice.

Developing maternity services closer to home is an integral part of the healing process in aboriginal communities. Aboriginal midwives respect birth as a healthy physiologic process, and honour each birth as a spiritual journey. We believe aboriginal women have the inherent right to choose our caregivers and be active decision-makers in our health. Working closely with women to restore identity and health from the time of birth enables us to heal from historical and ongoing trauma, addictions, and violence. When birth is absent, so is the power and joy of the birth story, and within it, the threads of connections to oneself, family, community, and the cosmos.

In many cases aboriginal midwives are the first and only health professionals a woman sees throughout her pregnancy. We have a unique opportunity to build trusting relationships with the health care system that have a ripple effect into the health of the family and the community. For example, the success of the Inuulitsivik Health Centre, one of three Nunavut birthing centres, has been recognized on several international platforms, including the World Health Organization. Since 1986, locally trained Inuit midwives have been providing cost-effective care along the Hudson Bay coast. Birth evacuations have since dropped from 91% in 1983 to just 9% in 1998, drastically cutting costs. Bringing birth closer to home is possible.

In federal jurisdictions such as reserves, communities face significant barriers when attempting to implement midwifery services. At this time there is no federal funding for midwives to practice on reserve except for reallocated funds transferred to the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia.

I once had the honour of being involved in a young woman's healing through the transformative power of birth with aboriginal midwives in Toronto. This woman was from one of the Cree nations from western Canada. She had already given birth to several babies, each one apprehended into the child welfare system while living out west. She had sustained a childhood full of sexual abuse from family members who, while attending residential school, had not experienced a healthy and loving childhood but had experienced only sexual, physical, and emotional abuse from their teachers. She began taking drugs to numb the pain. When she arrived in Toronto she was pregnant, and was supported to connect with aboriginal midwives for her birth.

She was convinced she did not have the capacity to care for her baby, and was planning to relinquish him at birth to the Children's Aid Society. The aboriginal midwives surrounded her at the birth with care and compassion, singing and drumming her baby into the world. She told me that at that time she felt like all of her ancestors were there at this birth. Her baby was born at sunrise. Later on his spirit name was given to him by an elder who was not aware of the time of his birth but through the connection of spirit gave him the name “He who brings in the light”. From that moment on, she began to learn how to care for herself. After a year of hard work, inspired and supported by her aboriginal midwives, she brought her son home to stay.

Globally, NACM is among the first national professional associations of indigenous midwives. Worldwide, other indigenous midwives look to NACM as leaders. In 2017 the global midwifery conference will be hosted in Toronto, and NACM will have the opportunity to showcase our groundbreaking on the global stage.

Bill C-608 is a first step to recognizing the essential role that midwives play in ensuring the health of our communities. It is one action that continues to bring visibility to our work of creating strong identities for our children, strength for our women, deep bonds in our families, and a healthy future for our communities.

I want to close with a prayer by Katsi Cook, a mentor midwife, that we use in our medicine circle for blessing births: Relax where you are and feel your weight supported by Mother Earth. Breathe in the oxygen. It is part of the sky and part of each one of us. I give thanks, for peacefully you are born. I pray that peacefully your life will be ongoing, because as I think of you clearly, I know you will always be loved.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this committee, and I look forward to any questions you may have.

[Emmanuelle Hébert, President, Canadian Association of Midwives]

Thank you Mr. Chair and committee members for the opportunity to appear today to testify as part of the committee’s study of Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife. I would also like to thank the sponsor of the bill, member of Parliament Rosane Doré Lefebvre who introduced this bill in the House of Commons and who has personally championed the cause of midwifery in Canada. We also extend our gratitude to member of Parliament Peggy Nash for the work that she has done to establish a National Day of the Midwife in Canada.

The International Day of the Midwife was formally established in 1992 by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). Since then, every year, May 5 marks the day of celebration for midwifery globally, a day that reminds the world of the essential role that midwives play in ensuring healthy outcomes for mothers and their newborns. Statements in support of International Day of the Midwife have been issued by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Canadian Association of Midwives firmly believes that Bill C-608 is an important step in showing appreciation for the vital contribution that midwives make to the delivery of safe, quality maternity care to Canadian families and to the important role that midwives play in delivering thousands of healthy Canadian babies.

We would like to thank committee members Dr. Colin Carrie, Dr. Hedy Fry and members of Parliament Lois Brown and Peggy Nash who have echoed this appreciation in their statements delivered in the House of Commons in 2013 and in 2014 in recognition of May 5 as the International Day of the Midwife. And of course, CAM is very grateful to all political parties for the unanimous support the bill has received to date.

The Canadian Association of Midwives is the national organization representing midwives and the profession of midwifery in Canada. CAM's mission is to provide leadership and advocacy for midwifery as a regulated, publicly funded and vital part of the primary maternity care system in all Canadian jurisdictions.

CAM also works to support the interests and objectives of 13 provincial and territorial midwifery associations, as well as the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NACM). There are currently just over 1,300 practising midwives in Canada. Midwifery in Canada provides a model of care that is evidence-based, women-centred, safe, and cost-effective. Registered midwives are health professionals who provide primary care to women and their babies during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period. They are often the first point of entry to maternity services, and are fully responsible for clinical decisions and the management of care within their scope of practice.

Midwifery models of care vary across the country, but all are based on the principles of continuity of care provider, informed choice, and choice of birth place, such as hospitals, birth centres and homes.

Midwives provide a complete course of low-risk prenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care and services for mothers and their newborns. These include physical examinations, screening and diagnostic tests, the assessment of risk and abnormal conditions, and the conduct of normal vaginal deliveries.

Midwives work in collaboration with other health professionals, and consult with or refer individuals to medical specialists as appropriate. In jurisdictions where midwives work to the fullest scope, midwifery practice includes epidural monitoring, induction for post-term pregnancy and augmentation of labour by pharmacological means, prescription or fitting of contraceptives, baby care beyond the six-week postpartum period, and many other aspects of primary care.

Midwives are experts in normal births and therefore help to reduce high rates of interventions. Women who experience midwife-led continuity models of care are less likely to experience antenatal hospitalization, regional analgesia and episiotomy, and their newborns are more likely to have a shorter hospital stay and fewer readmissions.

Midwifery services also help to reduce wait times in emergency rooms because midwives are on-call and directly accessible to their clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

According to statistics from Ontario, midwives currently achieve caesarean section rates that match the World Health Organization's recommended rate of 15%. If midwifery care was widely instituted, this reduction alone could potentially save millions of dollars a year in health care spending.

There are seven universities in five provinces offering a four-year midwifery education baccalaureate program, and a number of community-based midwifery education programs in first nations and Inuit communities. In spite of this, only 2% to 5% of women in Canada currently have access to midwifery care services.

And why is this? In New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and in the Yukon, the profession is still unregulated and unsupported by the public health care system, so families do not have access to midwifery care.

In federal jurisdictions, such as on reserve, penitentiaries and military bases, communities face numerous barriers when attempting to implement midwifery services. These attempts most often result in failure to improve health services and to offer birthing services closer to home.

The World Health Organization, UN agencies and other global partners have identified midwives as key to achieving reductions in maternal and infant mortality. Through the Muskoka initiative and more recent investments by the government in international maternal, newborn and child health, Canada has played a role globally in helping to increase women’s access to quality maternity care.

However, a 2013 UNICEF report found that Canada domestically ranked 22 out of 29 developed countries for infant mortality rates. This concerning figure is mostly attributed to the higher rates among aboriginal communities where women must leave their community for weeks to give birth in urban centres, away from their families and support systems.

Midwifery can play a significant role in ensuring better access to care for women and their babies and CAM looks forward to opportunities to work with the federal government and with the provinces and territories to improve access to maternal and newborn health care in Canada.

In June 2017, Canada will host the world’s triennial global midwifery congress in Toronto. Over 4,000 midwives and maternity care providers from around the globe will be in Canada to learn and discuss on issues regarding global maternal, newborn and child health. This will be a one of a kind opportunity for us to demonstrate to the world Canada’s contributions and to share what Canada is doing within its own borders to ensure fair and equitable maternity care for all Canadians.

Evidence from around the world demonstrates that midwives are essential to improving the lives of mothers and babies. Let us work together to ensure that in June of 2017, when midwives and health professionals from around the world gather in Toronto, that Canada is seen as a leader in the delivery of safe, equitable and cost-effective community-based maternal, newborn and child health services for all Canadians and continues to be a global leader in this area.

We applaud the government's Muskoka initiative and more recent global investments in maternal, newborn and child health that have helped to train midwives and skilled birth attendants, and increased women's access to quality midwifery services internationally.

The Canadian Association of Midwives continues to play an important role in ensuring Canadian expertise is being fully utilized to strengthen midwifery globally.

In closing, Canadian midwifery is a model of maternity care that provides excellent patient satisfaction, while decreasing rates of intervention and providing cost-effective care. This model is especially suited for providing care in rural and remote communities where transportation costs to transfer patients are staggeringly high.

Midwives benefit from flexibility and sustainability when they work to their fullest scope of practice, which is why this model should be explored and expanded by those looking for innovative models of care.

We are thrilled to be hosting the ICM global midwifery congress in Canada in 2017 and see this as an opportunity for Canada to shine even more on the global stage. Bill C-608 is an important step towards recognizing the growing profession of midwifery and the essential role midwives play in the delivery of maternity care and its potential to enhance our health care system across the country.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee and I look forward to any questions you may have.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would first like to thank the hon. members of the Standing Committee on Health for taking the time today to study my bill, Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife. I would also like to thank the many midwives who worked with me on this matter.

The reality of midwifery is quite different from coast to coast, be it in the heart of the Northwest Territories or in downtown Toronto. Their openness and generosity have enabled me to better understand their world and the impact their work has on our society. My special thanks go to the Canadian Association of Midwives, the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives and the Ordre des sages-femmes du Québec for their contribution.

Last fall, the House of Commons was unanimously in favour of the bill. As parliamentarians, we were able to show our support for Canadian midwives and our commitment to recognizing May 5 as the National Day of the Midwife.

As you can see, the title of Bill C-608 really reflects its intent: recognizing midwifery by designating May 5 as the National Day of the Midwife.

The World Health Organization introduced the International Day of the Midwife in 1992. That day is recognized in a number of countries around the world. That is why May 5 has been kept as the date for the National Day of the Midwife.

Whether here or abroad, the work of midwives is needed to keep mothers and children healthy. Although the number of midwives is going up every year in Canada, less than 5% of the population has access to their services, which is not enough to meet the demand.

The situation is even more desperate in aboriginal or remote communities, where giving birth is completely different from the reality of big cities. The presence of midwives in remote areas helps communities reconnect with the ancestral practices they hold dear.

It is also important to point out that Canadian midwives are recognized internationally for the quality of their work. We can be very proud of them.

I sincerely believe that the main thing here is to highlight the invaluable work that midwives accomplish daily. That is why I brought forward Bill C-608.

I will be pleased to answer any questions members of the committee may have.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ben Lobb]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back. We're ready to begin our meeting.

In our first hour we're going to be looking at Bill C-608, an act respecting a national day of the midwife. The author of the bill is here today.

Thank you very much, Ms. Doré Lefebvre. You have 10 minutes to bring some remarks. Go ahead.

Midwives

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is about my bill, Bill C-608. Many people have signed this petition to make May 5 the national day of the midwife.

Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Edmonton—Strathcona for her extremely important question. I am happy that she mentioned the specific situation facing first nations communities.

I agree that the government is unfortunately neglecting many files. With regard to the schools she mentioned, the government is completely neglecting its duty and is not honouring the treaties it has signed with first nations. It is so sad to see this. I truly hope that this will get the attention it deserves and that it will be included in the bill, because often the reality facing isolated first nations communities is forgotten.

This brings me to a parallel I would like to draw with the bill we voted on. I introduced Bill C-608 in the House of Commons. It passed second reading. Members voted unanimously in favour of a bill to establish a national day of the midwife. That bill is very important to first nations in particular, because the whole birth experience has been altered among first nations. Women often have to fly out of their communities for weeks, if not two or three months, in order to give birth to their child, when instead we could simply sit down with first nations communities and look at what they need for women to be able to deliver their babies in their own communities.

This bill is along the same lines. We need to make sure that we work in partnership with first nations and that the government has an open dialogue with those communities.

National Day of the Midwife Act

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-608 under private members' business.

The House resumed from November 18 consideration of the motion that Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this evening all I want to do is thank all of my colleagues in the House for their wonderful support for Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife.

I will not repeat what my colleagues have said, but I would first like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, who is a young mother on the Conservative side. I know how important this issue is to her.

I also want to thank the member for Vancouver Centre, who is always passionate about health issues. I also appreciate her support for Bill C-608.

I also want to thank my NDP colleague from Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, who is a doctor by training. I am very pleased to know that she supports us on this. I know that the national day of the midwife was also important to her.

I would like to thank my colleague on the Conservative side who just spoke, the member for Nanaimo—Alberni, the only man who spoke to this bill. I must say that his speech on his personal experience with midwives was extremely interesting.

I know that he did not make a speech, but I would also like to thank my Conservative colleague from Tobique—Mactaquac for talking about what was going on in New Brunswick and for showing how important it is for his community to have midwives.

I saw how important this issue was to everyone. We all have extremely different experiences, especially as parents. Our birthing experiences—as fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, sisters or cousins—are wonderful, and it is important to share these experiences with each other.

I thank my colleagues for their support for Bill C-608, An Act respecting a National Day of the Midwife.

Let us continue moving forward.

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have enjoyed the debate so far this evening. I want to congratulate the member from Alfred-Pellan for introducing Bill C-608 and for the great speech she gave explaining her reasons for doing so.

It seems that I am the first male to stand to address this matter, so I want to say that I very much appreciate all of the contributions by the various women who have participated in the debate so far. However, as the token dad here, at least the first one on the male side of the House, to address the issue, I have to admit that I often say that children are a conspiracy to make their parents feel older. We live 25 or 30 years during which we feel we have not aged, and then our kids start pressing up into that area and the math does not work anymore.

My first child was born 38 years ago in Toronto at St. Michael's Hospital. It was completely natural childbirth. Amazingly, it seemed as if the medical staff, who did a fine job, had never actually seen a natural childbirth at that time.

My second one was born four years later in our own home. There was a medical doctor in attendance and a nurse who was trained as a midwife who did all the work. He just caught the baby. Childbirth is not a state of sickness for most women. It is a state of health if women have appropriate information, are well informed about the birthing process, and have someone nearby. Midwives have filled this role throughout history in most cultures.

It is very refreshing to see a move toward re-establishing midwifery in Canada. We can see from the comments made already why the need is really important. The health and well-being of pregnant women, infants, and children is of vital importance to our government. I am therefore pleased to support Bill C-608, which would increase awareness of the significant contributions of midwives to safeguarding and improving the health and well-being of women and their families.

The parliamentary secretary spoke just a few minutes ago about Canada's leadership in maternal and child health worldwide through the G20 initiative, helping to train and advance midwives in birth attendance in developing countries where maternal mortality is at alarming rates. Canada is acting to make a difference there.

Meanwhile, right here at home, midwives provide high quality care for women before, during and after childbirth. They ensure safe deliveries and provide essential newborn care. They are key primary care providers who seek to optimize the childbirth experience for women and families and work collaboratively with other health professionals. Having access to these skilled professionals to provide needed care for women, newborns, and families during the prenatal period, labour, birth, and postpartum is critical to their collective health and well-being.

Aside from the supports provided by our government enumerated by the parliamentary secretary a few moments ago, our government is also providing the largest health care transfers in Canadian history to provinces and territories to support health care services, such as midwives. These historic transfers have increased by almost 60% since we formed government and are set to reach $40 billion by the end of the decade.

Canada had 381,598 births registered last year. The overwhelming majority, 98.5%, took place in a hospital. In fact, child birth is the number one cause of hospital admission in Canada. I find that statistic astounding. Of 381,598 births, 98.5% actually took place in a hospital.