Decolonizing health care by engaging with the TRC Calls to Action
Date: June 21, 2023
June 21 is Indigenous People's Day. This is a time for First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities to come together and celebrate the diversity and profound beauty of their cultures. This is also a time for settler Canadians to reflect on their role in decolonizing the health-care systems in which th…
Celebrating National Indigenous History Month: Steps for settler midwives to meaningfully engage with reconciliation work
Date: May 31, 2023
June is marked as National Indigenous History Month. This is a time to celebrate Indigenous peoples’ rich cultures and diversity; to confront and commemorate the ongoing experiences of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island; and to meaningfully engage in reconciliation work. The AOM supports the Indig…
June is Pride Month
Date: May 31, 2023
Pride Month is a celebration to honour and support the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It’s a time to promote equality and visibility, as well as to recognize the historical and ongoing struggles faced by Two-Spirit, queer and trans people and communities. Pride commemorates the Stonewall Uprising, which too…
Retired midwife Nicole Roach, equity advocate, calls on midwives to support disability justice
Date: May 31, 2023
As a working midwife and former AOM Board member, Nicole was active in advocating to close the gender pay gap for midwives. Today, as a retired midwife living with a disability, Nicole has been advocating to end poverty for people living with disabilities. Nicole has been championing Bill C-22, a federal law that could reduce poverty and support the financial security of people with disabilities.
May 5 is Red Dress Day
Date: May 3, 2023
Red Dress Day is a day of honour, remembrance and national awareness for the thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people (MMIWG2S+). Stark images of red dresses hanging from trees or structures were used by Métis artist Jaime Black of the ReDress Project to symbolize the absence of those whose lives will not be forgotten.
Impact of government cuts to uninsured funding on clients in midwifery care
Date: March 29, 2023
An open letter to obstetrical colleagues written by Midwives Manavi Handa and Shezeen Suleman As you are likely aware, the provincial government announced on Friday they are cutting the funding program that has allowed a pathway for uninsured residents of our province to seek essential medical care and has allowed doctors a mechanism to bill for this care. The program is set to end on March 31, 2023, and this comes as very distressing news. As midwives who have worked for many years with uninsured clients, we are sharing some thoughts with you about the devastating impacts of these cuts to perinatal clients we serve. We are reaching out to you, our obstetrician colleagues, to highlight some of these impacts as we know you too serve these communities – the care you deliver will undoubtedly be impacted as well.
Remembering and honouring MMIWG2S
Date: February 14, 2023
February 14 marks the anniversary of the annual Women’s Memorial March (WMM), held in communities across Canada and the United States to remember and honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit persons (MMIWG2S). Led by Indigenous women, the march began when loved ones and su…
#MidwiferyDataMatters: A new tool to visualize outcomes in midwifery care
Date: February 7, 2023
Midwives provide safe, excellent care to pregnant and birthing individuals across Ontario. Today midwives can visualize their impact on important perinatal outcomes in the AOM’s new resource, A Visualization of Key Data from the Midwifery Regional Report (PDF, 517 KB; login required). Launched b…
Ukrainian-Canadian midwife supports midwives in Ukraine; Emergency skills and association recognition at the ICM top of agenda
Date: January 25, 2023
(Photo attribution: National Police of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.) Midwives in Ukraine have united to form the first Association of Midwives of Ukraine, thanks in part to the efforts of Betty-Anne Daviss, an Ontario midwife, educator, and researcher with historical family ties to Ukraine. Daviss recently traveled to Ukraine where she offered a series of workshops for midwives, obstetricians, and other perinatal specialists from across the country working on the frontlines of the war, focusing on clinical skills for intrapartum emergencies.
AOM negotiations with Ministry: Advocating to improve the lives of midwives and the midwifery sector
Date: November 16, 2022
November marked the beginning of the AOM’s inauguration of negotiations with the Ministry of Health (MOH), where the AOM represents Ontario’s over 1 000 registered and Indigenous midwives, providing care to over 26 000 Ontarians each year. The AOM's focus is advocating to improve the lives and working conditions of midwives and to strengthen the sector. Midwives are currently working under a three-year deal that expires on March 31, 2023.