Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I welcome our witnesses today.
Congratulations to you, Madam Rosane Doré Lefebvre, for bringing this issue forward. I think you saw from the response in the House, the unanimous agreement, that we all accept your idea as a very worthy one.
I'm interested in the fact that when you speak en français you regard midwives as sage-femmes. That's a very interesting term. I don't know where the term “midwife” came from; it's been in use a long time. To say “sage-femme” implies something that's a very useful concept in understanding the role of a midwife in helping women who are having babies, who are usually young women and need the benefit of a sage-femme, someone with experience, someone who has been around the birthing experience, especially in our day and age when in regard to such knowledge there's a lot of fearmongering. There's a lot of fear related to childbirth, which I think for most births is unnecessary. The majority of births—far and beyond the majority—still are very low risk and are a normal health experience in the human family.
I appreciate your being here now to have this discussion. You mentioned a few interesting things. Part of your remarks was about how the presence of midwives helps communities, and I think it's a tragedy when women have to go far away from their families and their communities to have babies. It's certainly better to have them right in their own communities.
Also, if I can speak for the dads, I think having the dad there is probably a good idea, because they're supposed to have a role in raising a child as well, and increasingly that's a problem. For the dad to miss out on the birthing event is a real tragedy of another order. It seems to me that the dad should be engaging in conversations with the baby, who after all is in an aqueous medium, and as hearing is the first of our higher senses to develop, the babies therefore are sensitive to the sounds around them. Therefore, the baby also is much more comfortable being born in their own environment. A home birth is probably preferable, because those are the sounds the baby is used to, and the music they're used to, and the normal sounds in their own home environment are far different from what you find in a hospital setting.
I think there's a lot of interest today.
Ellen, you mentioned the example of a young mom who wanted to breastfeed but there was no one there, really, in a busy hospital environment to help her through the practical challenges. There's a missed opportunity. For most babies, they need just a little gentle coaching and assistance. There's a lot of attention to skin-on-skin contact and how important that is for babies at the beginning, so whisking them away, wrapping them up, and putting them somewhere else immediately is not the best way to respond.
I think midwives certainly excel in all of those things related to birth. You have a tremendous role in getting that message out, in helping babies come into the world effectively and in a more comfortable manner, and in helping the mothers to get off to a good start. Also, I'm going to put a word back in for the dads, because they should be involved. I think most midwives would want to have the dad there as well if possible.
Anyway, I just want to say that I think because there are only 1,400 of you.... I thought it was 1,400, but I think Ms. Davies said there were 1,300 registered midwives. First of all, can you confirm the number? Also, for the record, would you tell us about the training of midwives in Canada? I think a lot of Canadians don't understand the formal training that you undergo today.