Better access to midwifery care could save the province millions in health-care spending every year, according to a new report.
The report, written by the Association for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth (ASAC), reviewed the state of maternity care in Alberta for the first time since 2009.
It suggests $221 million in potential savings could be achieved by reducing the number of C-sections performed in Alberta and by increasing access to out-of-hospital births.
The report shows that birth centre and home births are $2,000 cheaper than a vaginal birth with an obstetrician and more than $6,000 cheaper than a caesarean birth. This is due to the high cost of hospitalization. Reducing C-section births alone could save the province more than $50 million in hospital costs, according to ASAC.
Natural births are also associated with better breastfeeding and fewer negative health outcomes for both babies and mothers.
“Babies in caesarean births typically go back for respiratory pneumonia, failure to thrive issues that stem from breastfeeding,” said ASAC president Dana Weatherhead.
It is estimated that indirect savings from fewer hospital readmissions could total upwards of $154 million.
ASAC hopes the findings will encourage the province to remove the cap currently imposed on midwifery funding.
As of 2019, only 4,000 women will be able receive midwifery services. Though this represents an increase of 1,600 women since 2014, ASAC believes expecting mothers should not be limited in the choice of maternity care providers. The group wants to see the outlined health-care savings reinvested in courses of care for more pregnant women.
“We’re saying allow women to birth in a birth centre or home and that money that will be saved on hospital costs – with employees, supplies and bed space – can be reallocated to funding more courses of care,” said Weatherhead.
Weatherhead argues that better access to midwifery care would not only help the 1,900 women currently on waiting lists, but improve overall maternity care by allowing obstetricians to focus on high-risk pregnancies.
“What we’re hoping, is that by fully utilizing midwives these OBs can focus on the high-risk moms that need them,” said Weatherhead.
The report confirms what the Alberta Association of Midwives has been advocating for years, said president Nicole Matheson. She hopes the findings will aid in current negotiations with the province about the creation of a more sustainable and integrated funding model for midwives.
“We believe it’s very important that we have an independent report that supports the findings that we believe,” she said. “It was very helpful that ASAC could go ahead and do this report.”
The AAM’s current contract with Alberta Health Services ends March 31, 2017.
