Client Intake Form: Initial Early Prenatal Care, After Birth Postpartum Services

Midwifery Care North Shore only provides services to North Shore Vancouver residents

Client Intake Form (NEW – LIVE)

Midwifery Care North Shore no longer provides 24 hour/7 day labor and birth services.

Vera would appreciate that you only fill out the intake form below if you live on the North Shore, have yet to find a doctor, or midwife to your prenatal, labor and birth services, or you are interested in after birth midwifery postpartum services.

Vera’s prenatal service provides a bridge for those, just pregnant, who come into her care around 6+ weeks, until ongoing care has been confirmed.

Besides self-referral into postpartum services, Vera does accept postpartum referrals from nurses, doctors, midwives, naturopathic doctors dependent on her capacity and appreciates that clients also fill out an intake form.

Look at MCNS summary of services to find out about Vera’s transfer of care process to another midwife or doctor, who provides ongoing prenatal, labor & birth services and what prenatal services you can anticipate: https://midwiferycare.ca/prenatal-services/

Transfer to ongoing care usually takes place around 13 or 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Clients that start out in Vera’s prenatal service, who do not access ongoing midwifery services and have a doctor providing their labor and birth care, have the option of returning back into Vera’s postpartum services after the birth of their baby.

Look at MCNS summary of services to find an outline of what postpartum services you can anticipate:  https://midwiferycare.ca/postpartum-services/

There are 2 enrolment options:

  1. Enrolling during your pregnancy. This option offers a prenatal 3rd trimester office visit before your baby/babies birth that focusses on postpartum recovery, infant feeding and early parenting. After birth care starts in your home on the 1st or 2nd day after you and your baby/babies have been discharged from hospital.

    Enrolling clients during their pregnancy is Vera’s preferred way of building her capacity.

  2. Enrolling in the first week after the birth of your baby/babies.

    If your baby has just been born, or you are in your first week postpartum, Vera can only offer you services depending on her capacity.

You are only eligible for Vera’s Early Pregnancy Care (EPC) and to complete the rest of the form below, if you have yet to have an initial prenatal visit, or have only had one early pregnancy visit with your family or  a walk-in-clinic doctor. 

When you hear back from Vera, cancel any upcoming prenatal appointment you may have booked with a doctor.  As MSP only pays for one prenatal provider. 

If you have had more than one prenatal appointment you are ineligbile for Midwifery EPC, you must find ongoing prenatal, labor and birth care with a midwife or doctor with your family doctor.  If you find ongoing prenatal, labor and birth care with a doctor,  you will be eligible for midwifery postpartum services.  

As of 1st November, 2023 Vera’s primary office and appointment location for prenatal, postpartum 4week + 6week closure appointments is Shipyards Health, 88 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver (Map/Directions).

At this time her appointment day is only on two Wednesdays per month between 2pm-8pm. Parking can be found on 1st st. Before 5pm her office can be accessed by walking through Integrated Pure Pharmacy. After 5 pm please use buzzer 102 to enter via the building entrance. Please note that Vera also has flexibility with remote and home visit scheduling. 

Vera Berard only offers two MSP covered services:  Initial  Early Prenatal Care and Afterbirth Postpartum Services that are a mixture of remote,  home visits and office visits.   Appointments are scheduled for 30 -60 minutes and are individualised to a client’s needs.  

AFTER BIRTH POSTPARTUM SERVICES:

If you are pregnant and have a doctor providing your prenatal, labor and birth care and would like the services of a midwife, after birth for 6 weeks to support your healing, how  you feed your baby, and your early parenting. You can self-refer into Vera’s practice ideally during your pregnancy, or within the first few days after birth, by completing her intake form on this page. 

When Vera has capacity she is pleased to accept folk into her postpartum services within the first few days of a baby’s birth. 

Vera’s Postpartum Care includes:
  • One visit with Vera in your 3rd trimester to meet and communicate your intentions for nurturing and parenting your baby, and to discover how Vera can best support your needs. Your doctor and the hospital birthing unit will receive a consultation, communication report about this visit. 
  • At least 6-7 visits in the 6 weeks after the birth of your baby, with half or more of these visits taking place in your home. 
  • During visits, both you and your baby will have a primary-care physical assessment.
  • Support and education are also provided.
  • Referral to specialist or community care as needed.
  • Once you have confirmed with Vera that she can take you into her practice. The services described above are covered by MSP. 

INITIAL EARLY PRENATAL CARE:

If you are just pregnant and wondering what to do next. You could have an experienced midwife involved in your care, while you access ongoing labor and birth care with either another midwife, or a doctor. 

Vera’s Prenatal Services  are an MSP phase of care that include:
  • Two remote visits to confirm your pregnancy and discuss your questions.
  • She provides requisitions and interpretation of routine and optional pregnancy tests, life-style counseling, pregnancy, labor, birth + postpartum information, community resource information and reassurance.
  • Possibly one or more in-person visits depending on when a person transfers care to an on-going prenatal, labor and birth provider.  During these visits, besides addressing a client’s questions,  physical assessment takes place, including listening to the fetal heart.
  • Early pregnancy clients’ care is transferred to an ongoing prenatal and birth provider before, or by the time  28 weeks pregnant. 
  • When transferring care to another provider, the process is that you would inform your next provider that you are in Vera’s prenatal care and request to make an appointment  with you ongoing provider ~4 weeks after your last scheduled appointment with Vera. which is usually between 10 – 13 weeks pregnant or 24 – 26weeks pregnant.  Clients then  inform Vera of their appointment date with their ongoing prenatal, labor and birth service. So that she can send their records and transfer their care before that appointment.  This process enables a seamless transfer, without duplication of services or appointments. 
  • Receiving initial prenatal care provides no guarantee of accessing ongoing labor & birth midwifery services.   Vera’s midwifery colleagues are pleased to accept referrals when they have capacity.  Their front desk calls, or sends folk on their waitlist an invitation to make an appointment when capacity is available.  Lionsgate Maternity Clinic accept Vera’s initial prenatal care clients who either have a preference for family practice perinatal care, or who have been unable to access ongoing midwifery prenatal, labor & birth services. 
  • Before leaving Vera’s early pregnancy care to have a doctor  provide the rest of your maternity care.  You have the option to enrol into Vera’s postpartum services and of arranging to return to her care, after the birth of your baby.  
  • In the chance that an early pregnancy becomes complicated, or does not go well, Vera is there in these circumstances too, to provide her clients support and early referral to obstetrical specialist services when needed.  

Vera’s Prenatal Services are covered by MSP for BC residents that have a care card.  You are eligible for her service providing that you have had no, or minimal prenatal care from a doctor.

Early pregnant and postpartum families have access to Vera’s onpage email contact system to arrange additional telephone consultation, outside of their scheduled visits. This service is available between 9am and 11pm,  7 days a week.  In between midnight and 9am clients access 811,or go to LGH ER. 

Vera has an hourly consultation fee for folk that request a private consultation with her at any time during their pregnancy or postpartum.  She also has a private phase of care rate for folk that do not have MSP. 

Her area of service is the North Shore. Folk that live near, or in Lower Lonsdale get priorityClients that live in her catchment area are eligible for home visits. Postpartum clients that live outside of Vera’s visiting area, travel to Vera’s office for all of their visits. 

Vera rents office space in Shipyards Health 88 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver.  Her in person appointment days are on Wednesday from 2pm – 8pm 

If you would like to have an experienced midwife involved in either in your Initial Prenatal Care and/or your Afterbirth Postpartum Care and wish to discuss your queries, you can fill out Vera’s Client Intake Form on  this page. When your intake form is received, Vera will  respond to your questions and arrange an appointment to begin your  phase of care via email.   To submit the form, all the starred boxes must be completed.   If you do not receive a response within 5 days check your spam folder in case Vera’s email went there.  If this happens please add hello (at) midwiferycare.ca as one of your contacts.

Vera looks forward to connecting with you!