It’s been just over a year since Midwifery Care North Shore has ONLY been offering partial midwifery services in the form of early pregnancy care and postpartum services. While it has been a change, it has also been a natural progression.
Vera Beard RM has embraced the many joys of providing services to folk just pregnant and to those, who have birthed and are now on an early parenting journey for the first time or more, with either one or two babies. Since November, 2021 her partial midwifery services capacity has been steadily building. During this time Vera has provided services to over 50 postpartum folk and their families. Half of her clientele started out in her early pregnancy care, were referred to Lionsgate Maternity Clinic for ongoing care and returned to her postpartum practice after the birth of their babies. The rest were referred to her by Obstetricians on the North Shore and in Vancouver during their pregnancies. A few were referred by Lionsgate Hospital Perinatal Services Coordinator and pediatrician after the birth of their babies when Vera had capacity. Many of Vera’s early pregnancy clients connected with her after being helped to conceive via Reproductive Medicine. Vera has appreciated and enjoyed feeling the support and respect of her colleagues for the services that she provides.
People that have used her partial services consistently tell her that “They have valued having a consistent person providing support, as they transitioned into being pregnant and/or into becoming a parent after their baby is born”. She has been delighted to provide a small intimate practice to those that have enrolled into her care. .
BC’s healthcare system is yet to recognize how a lack of a known, regular midwifery active hospital privilege process impacts an established practice’s ability to engage midwives, who would like to live and work close to where they practice and who could ongoingly share 24 hours/7 days labor and birth call coverage. Consequently, Vera had to come to terms with her need to have an improved work-life balance by taking a quiet furlough from 24 hours/7 days labor and birth work and by finding ways to continue to use her skills and to provide services within her community from the framework of her established practice. It was a challenging process to undergo at first. While she hopes to have an opportunity to be in a supported 24 hour/ 7 day labor and birth call coverage, she is now celebrating the consequences of her decision.
Such as, working a 16 hour/7 day a week on-call work schedule for her early pregnancy and postpartum clients that does not entail having to drop everything at a moment’s notice, as well as frequently having to reschedule booked appointment days. Vera is also enjoying the opportunity to plan her work and her off-time, including participating in personal and professional activities on a regular basis that she could not undertake when she had to be on-call 24 hours/7 days. Her biggest challenge these days is the increase in traffic and development on the North Shore that can make scheduled home-visits late and parking difficult.
Vera appreciates the hybrid working options that arose out of the pandemic that allows providers to use email and work remotely.
Joining in Zoom parent and baby yoga with one of her postpartum groups during the pandemic
Providing partial midwifery services, where she can plan her work in advance has allowed Vera an opportunity to play pickleball, become involved in art, take on additional professional work and visit with her family back East and in S. Africa in the Spring, 2023, after her February 2023 postpartum clients complete their 6 week care in March, 2023.
She is currently enrolling folk into her postpartum services that are due the end of June, beginning of July 2023 onwards. So that she can arrange to meet with them on her return, while they are still pregnant. All her current early pregnancy clientele that are due in the Fall, 2023 care will either be completed or will be transferred to other providers before she leaves.
Vera will be pleased to accept early pregnant folk that find themselves just pregnant at the end of May/beginning of June, 2023 onwards and that are likely due the end of January/beginning February 2024 onwards.
She continues to be grateful for the people in her life that hold her and her endeavors up, be it her midwife, nursing and doctor colleagues in Lions Gate Hospital and in the community, or her friends and family, or the clients and their families that utilize her services, or the folk that take care of her website, electronic record, fax, e-scheduling and/or email paging services.
She persists in being thankful and in acknowledging that where she lives and works is within the ancestral, traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Tsleil-waututh Nations. As a settler she is learning how to embrace the wisdom of First Nations.