New Beginnings Midwifery
1257 4th Ave, Suite 3 V2L 3J5 Prince George, BC, Canada

To everyone that has sent an intake form in the last 3 weeks. Due to holidays, births, and exhaustion I have fallen behind on reviewing them. I will be reviewing them all tomorrow and you will hopefully have a response within a week. My apologies, Judy.

Happy December Everyone. To all our current clients, please read the mail sent to you yesterday with our new contact details. Unfortunately pager service is no longer available in PG. We have now changed to an on call number that is used for emergencies/births.

This week, the The Vancouver Sun and several other newspapers across the Postmedia network featured the struggles of B.C. midwives in light of COVID-19 and an o...ngoing lack of support from the B.C. government. In collaboration with Dr. Kathrin Stoll and Dr, Luba Butska, RM, MABC's recent survey was highlighted in the article. Read the full article here: https://vancouversun.com//covid-19-midwives-say-lack-of-su [Image description: Midwives Josée Gervais and Joanna Norman from Mighty Oak Midwifery Care in PPE, next to mom Karen Enns, who opted to give birth at home because of the pandemic]. #bcmidwives #COVID19BC

I lent my double electric pump to one of my clients this summer and now can't remember who has it. If you had a baby in July/August/September and have my borrowed pump can you please text or private message me.

Check out this free online baby play class http://www.familycontinuum.com//free-online-baby-play-clas

To all my friends and clients, please share this post. Midwives have been continuously ignored even though we have continued to serve our clients and the communities we work in with next to no government support during the pandemic. We have not seen any additional Pandemic Pay like some of our colleagues and have had spend our own money to buy PPE to keep everyone safe. Please get active. Call your local MLA and have a conversation with them about how midwifery care has impacted your life and family. Midwives can not do this alone anymore. We need clients, families, and our colleagues to speak up for us and help us fight for equal pay and recognition as health care providers!!!!!

B.C. midwives are the second-lowest paid in Canada and burning out fast. This election, we're asking political parties to support equity in maternity care and e...nsure that midwifery is there for B.C. families. See our full statement here: https://www.bcmidwives.com//News_Annou/support_bc_midwives #MidwivesDeliver #DeliverForMidwives #FixTheMidwiferyCrisis #bcpoli #bcndp #bcliberals #bcgreens #bcmidwives

Midwifery in B.C. is facing a crisis due to inaction and lack of support from previous governments. This election, we’re calling on political parties to make su...re midwifery services will continue to be available to those who need them. See our full statement here: https://www.bcmidwives.com//News_Annou/support_bc_midwives #MidwivesDeliver #DeliverForMidwives #FixTheMidwiferyCrisis #bcpoli #bcndp #bcliberals #bcgreens

Sherisse officially starts her clinical placement with Becca and I tomorrow.Sherisse officially starts her clinical placement with Becca and I tomorrow.

Great news!!! We have an opening for a client due in March 2021. If you are due between March 1-10 and are interested in midwifery care, then fill out our online intake form at www.nbmidwifery.com

Becca and I are thrilled to welcome Sherisse Roseboom. She is a third year UBC Midwifery Student who will be starting with us on September 27, 2020. We are lucky to have her here for all of her third year.

BC’s Midwives are excluded from retirement plans and pensions that other public servants receive. Many of us don’t know when, or if, we will retire. We’re calli...ng on the NDP government to fix this and #DeliverForMidwives Show your support here: https://www.bcmidwives.com/supportbcmidwives.html Image text description: [ A Midwifery Career means sacrifices. Retirement savings should not be one of them. ] #BCMidwives See more

Hot off the press! COVID-19: Evidence-based Resources for Pregnant and Postpartum Women in BC The Perinatal Anxiety Research Lab has created a list of supports available in BC, including great evidence-based resources for addressing perinatal anxiety! Check them out here: https://parlab.med.ubc.ca/1338-2/

Long hours on the road, growing caseloads, and our lives are spent on-call. The life of a midwife is tough - which is why we need health benefits and safe worki...ng conditions. It’s time for the government to #DeliverForMidwives #bcpoli #BCMidwives Get involved: Are You a Registered Midwife? https://www.bcmidwives.com/are-you-a-registered-midwife.html Are You a Midwifery Supporter? https://www.bcmidwives.com/are-you-a-midwifery-supporter.ht Photo credit: Felicia Chang www.feliciachangphotography.com Felicia Chang Photography See more

Hello all, Judy and I would like to introduce another locum midwife who will be providing coverage for us this July/August ~ please welcome Cele Jevitt! Cele will be covering my call/clinic days from July 16-23, Aug 1-2 & will be covering Judy's call/clinic days from July 25-30.... Learn a little bit about Cele from her bio below: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have a lot in common with New Beginnings other summer locums midwife, Jen Gagnon. We were both midwives in the US first and Chicago is our hometown. I studied midwifery at Emory University in Georgia, then went to work for what was the US Federal Community and Migrant Health Service. Seasonal farm worker health was a specialty of mine for years. I raised my three children in Florida over 30 years on acreage where we kept chickens and ducks and grew our own vegetables. During that time, I worked in small 100 bed community hospitals and huge 1000 bed urban hospitals while being part of the faculty at the University of South Florida. Even in the largest labor units, it was my privilege to help women have the birth they wanted. When I was a new midwife, most women in the US were still given enemas at hospital admission, put in sterile drapes for delivery and separated from their newborns for the first 12 hours. I look back with satisfaction to see how midwives have worked to normalize and de-medicalize birth. We still have a lot of work to do. I’m looking forward to working with the families of Prince George so that they have their best births. Ten years ago, my husband and I merged our families. Bill is a Canadian from Ontario and a professor of social work. Between us we have 7 children spread from Sooke on Vancouver Island to Florida-opposite corners of the continent. Five of our children are clustered around Tampa, Florida, where Bill and I met. We had planned to retire eventually to British Columbia to spend half a year with family here and half a year with the Florida family. When the job to direct midwifery at the University of British Columbia opened, we couldn’t resist an early move. To practice midwifery in Canada, I had to complete the program for internationally educated midwives at UBC. I’ve directed midwifery at UBC for two years and have the pleasure of watching Canadian midwifery grow with each graduating class. My husband and I live on the UBC campus just off Pacific Spirit Provincial Park. In our spare time we love to hike, kayak and fish.

It is so amazing to see a brand new midwifery practice opening in a new community!!!!! I'm so thrilled that women in William's Lake will have midwifery as an option in their own community.

Hello Everyone Becca and I are fortunate to have Jen Gagnon coming to our practice to give us both some much needed rest. Jen will be starting her locum coverage of my call/clinic days from June 13-19. She will then be covering Becca's call/clinic days from June 20-26. Here is her Biography:... Hello clients of New Beginnings! I’m Jen Gagnon, and I’ll be your locum to allow Judy and Becca to take some time off. I’ve been a midwife for over 19 years, 13 in the US as a certified nurse midwife and 6 in BC. I received my bachelors and masters in nursing from a university in Cleveland, Ohio, and did the Ontario bridging program in 2012. I currently live and work in the BC lower mainland, and have enjoyed locuming elsewhere in BC for the past two years. It combines two of my passions: midwifery and travel! I value my experience of working in many different models of midwifery, and it helps me professionally to learn different ways of working. Being in new communities keeps me humble. I also love that I get to help fellow midwives take holidays! That said, YOU are at the centre of our work. I look forward to meeting you!

Check it out Becca Mlikotic, we're famous!!!

Today Becca Mlikotic and I had the pleasure of celebrating Midwives Day together at a birthday!!!! This is Becca trying to look shorter and me trying to look taller in all our PPE. Stay turned for our next super sweaty PPE pictures!!! #BCMidwives #BCMidwivesDay #bchealthcareheroes #COVID19 #YearoftheNurseandMidwife

Please share widely!

Guess who? Whether at home or hospital, you'll see us sporting some fancy masks and not-so-fancy scrubs and gowns. We might look a little bit different while helping your little ones into the world, but we're doing our best to still help you feel the midwife love during these crazy times! Also, a HUGE thank you to everyone in Northern Health who has been working hard to get us access to the protective equipment we need to keep you and ourselves safe! #bcmidwives #northernhealth #COVID19 #midwifelife

Check out this excellent resource summarizing advice for parents on pregnancy / birth / newborns during COVID! https://www.canada.ca//p/pregnancy-advise-mothers-eng.pdf

Hello clients! This is our fourth Covid-19 update (please check your emails!). We want to thank you all for your flexibility and patience as we’ve had to rearrange appointments and implement various recommendations. In this post we will cover: 1) Criteria for Support People at Hospital - CORRECTION ...Continue reading

If you think you might have Covid-19 symptoms (fever / cough / sneezing / sore throat) or have been in contact with someone who does, please use the BC COVID 19 Self-Assessment Tool AND CALL the NH Covid Helpline: 1-844-645-7811 Because you are pregnant and have the potential of being admitted to hospital during your pregnancy, you may qualify for testing. Having a swab result helps us confirm what type of protective equipment we need to use and when. This allows us to reduce waste and make sure that limited supplies are available to those who need them! Check out the app and website here: https://bc.thrive.health/

**HOME / OUT-OF-HOSPITAL BIRTH UPDATE** In light of Covid-19, we have been getting a lot of questions about home (or out-of-hospital) birth. In order to keep everyone as safe as possible, we have come up with the following criteria that must be met if you would like to birth out-of-hospital: *If this is something that you would be interested in, please make sure to discuss it with us at your next appointment*... 1) Everyone in your home must be well If you or someone in your household is sick or experiencing any of the following symptoms: cough, fever, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat or difficulty breathing then you will have to labour/birth in hospital 2) You cannot be confirmed positive for Covid-19 or be awaiting results 3) You or anyone in your household cannot be self-isolating due to suspected / known COVID symptoms 4) If you have been in contact with someone who has been directed to self-isolate due to COVID symptoms, it must have been at least 10 days since their symptoms started 5) You, your family, and support people must not have travelled outside Canada in the past 14 days (prior to the birth) 6) You, your family, and support people must have been maintaining social distancing as much as possible 7) Maximum of 3 support people present (***please read carefully***) You can have: a. Support person + doula OR b. Support person #1 + Support person #2 (exclusively for child care) OR c. Support person #1 + Support person #2 (exclusively for child care) + doula *All other people in the house (child care support, kids, pets etc.) MUST be contained in another area of the house during labour/ birth as we need to have as little contact as possible with them in order to keep you and ourselves safe **We are not allowing birth photographers to be present 8) If you would like a waterbirth, you will need to supply your own birth tub/liner 9) Please make sure that your bathroom has recently been cleaned well and that you provide at least 2 clean hand towels for just the midwives to use when washing their hands Please keep in mind that this criteria may change and we will update you as soon as possible when it does. Lastly, we want to thank you so much for your flexibility and cooperation during this time. It makes all the difference

Hello New Beginnings Midwifery Clients This is our third Covid-19 update. Recommendations continue to change rapidly and there are several important updates that we need to share with you. In this email we will cover:...Continue reading

Please share! Like health care providers around the world, midwives urgently need personal protective equipment (PPE) to help keep themselves and the families they care for safe. If you have unused boxes of gloves, masks, face shields, goggles or gowns, please consider donating. Contact your local midwifery practice to arrange a donation: https://www.bcmidwives.com/find-a-midwife.html?map_search= Thank you to those who have already donated, including dental and vet offices. #bcpoli #COVID19