Association of Ontario Midwives 2010/2011 Annual Report

Association of Ontario Midwives 

2010/2011 Annual Report

Beliefs and Values 

Mission Statement 

The Association of Ontario Midwives 

represents and advocates on behalf of 

Registered Midwives. The AOM promotes 

the profession of midwifery in Ontario. 

We are committed to the growth of the 

profession and supporting midwives in 

the provision of optimal midwifery care 

that is responsive to the needs of women 

and their infants. 

Vision Statement 

Midwifery is central to the provision of 

maternal and newborn care in Ontario. 

Midwives participate fully in planning 

and policy development at all levels of the 

health care system. 

Beliefs and Values 

The Association of Ontario Midwives 

believes that: 

1. Pregnancy and childbirth are a profound 

time in a woman’s life, imbued 

with a variety of personal and cultural 

meanings, and are best approached in 

a non-authoritarian manner, providing 

choice of birthplace, continuity of care, 

informed choice and recognizing the 

woman as the primary decision-maker. 

2. Midwives are experts in the provision 

of primary care for women anticipating 

normal, low-risk pregnancy and birth. 

3. Valuing and respecting diversity is 

integral to the provision of midwifery 

care. 

4. Effective midwifery care is based on 

the best available evidence combined 

with knowledge of a woman and her 

circumstances. 

5. Midwifery care must be accessible and 

fully funded for women in Ontario. 

6. Midwifery should have a central role 

in the development and implementation 

of a Health Human Resource Plan for 

maternal and newborn care in Ontario. 

7. We must value and embrace the 

principles of dignity and diversity in every 

facet of the work we undertake. 

8. We must be member focused and work 

to establish accessible, appropriate and 

responsive services and support, which 

meet the needs of the membership, and 

the community at large. 

9. We must advocate for members’ rights 

to working conditions that promote longterm 

career satisfaction. 

10. We promote the profession and 

enhance the potential of midwifery to 

contribute to the well-being of society. 

On the cover 

Clockwise from top left: 

• Clients Annamaria Rocchetta and 

Urszula May with baby Nico 

• Clients Jenny Young and Hannifah 

Nakimera pose for the birth centres 

campaign 

• Jasmin Tecson, RM, with clients 

Anita and Scott Craig 

• Cynthia Rebong , RM, with client 

Tara Pouyat 

Thank you to the clients, midwives and 

practices who participated in photo 

shoots this year and in years past. 

600 

500 

400 

300 

200 

100 

Number of Midwives from 1994-2010 

New practices in 2010 

• The Midwife Clinic: Etobicoke 

• Orillia Midwives: Orillia 

• Temiskaming Midwifery Practice: 

North Cobalt 

0 

Year 

1994 

1995 

1996 

1997 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2 2010/2011 Annual Report

Message from the President 

Midwives: bringing value to women 

and the health care system 

An excerpt from the Opening 

Ceremonies and Conference Opening 

at the 2011 Conference, 

Delivering Change: Strengthening 

Maternal-Newborn Care in Ontario 

Katrina Kilroy, RM 

AOM President 

“Midwives have the right 

to regular negotiations, 

fair compensation 

and appropriate 

stewardship...” 

Midwives make a profound impact not 

only on the women and families we care 

for but on the health care system as a 

whole. 

A number of months ago, an independent 

third-party report spoke of the 

extraordinary value of Ontario midwives. 

It spoke about the ways in which, while 

midwives have worked to build a strong 

midwifery system in Ontario, our own 

need for fair and equitable compensation 

and regular negotiations has been 

neglected. 

We have built an outstanding model 

of midwifery care in Ontario. It is our 

responsibility to provide stewardship for 

this model. 

That means booking women in a timely 

way during the first trimester, taking 

time to provide quality care that good 

outcomes grow out of, offering women 

comprehensive care by doing our own lab 

work, offering prenatal home visits for 

all clients regardless of planned place of 

birth, enabling women to leave hospital 

directly from the labour floor (even if it 

means more time from the midwife and 

more work when out of hospital testing 

is required), and by conducting primary 

care assessments of women calling with 

concerns such as to query preterm labour 

or reduced fetal movement. 

It means respecting and caring for each 

other within the complex dynamics of a 

midwifery practice. Midwifery in Ontario 

has been built by hard-working midwives 

with a commitment to individualized 

care and care in the community and it’s 

where our strength lies. It’s why healthy 

pregnant women need to be cared for by 

midwives. 

It’s our responsibility and our privilege to 

provide this level of care, this quality of 

care and this cost-effectiveness of care to 

the women of Ontario and to the health 

care system. 

But midwives are not being paid fairly 

in Ontario and have not been paid 

fairly since 1995. Without proper 

compensation, midwives may be getting 

the message that the Ministry of Health 

no longer wants to pay for this quality of 

care and the good outcomes that go with 

it; that it is not valued within the health 

care system. 

In Ontario, we run the entire midwifery 

system and we need more support to 

do so. We need fair and timely budget 

approvals, we need infrastructure 

support such as birth centres, clinical 

midwifery specialists and programs to 

support midwives at the beginning and 

the end of their careers, we need support 

for research on midwifery and research 

conducted by midwives. 

We need appropriate funding for IT, 

we need support for translation and 

interpretation, we need to be paid as 

preceptors equally to others in the system 

and certainly at a rate better than what 

we started with all those years ago in 

1994. We need to ensure that we can 

access hospital privileges and be able 

to maintain primary care when our 

clients need epidurals, inductions or 

augmentations and most importantly we 

need a dependable negotiations process 

and we need pay equity. 

By allowing midwives’ compensation to 

deteriorate and not keep pace with that 

of other health care workers, it appears 

that in spite of our excellent outcomes 

and satisfaction rates, we are not valued 

the way we were in 1994. That needs 

to change. Midwives have the right to 

regular negotiations, fair compensation 

and appropriate stewardship from a 

Ministry that recognizes the contributions 

midwives make to the health of women 

and babies in this province. 


3

Board of Directors 

2010 Board of Directors 

Back Row: 

Sara Stainton, South-East Region 

Allyson Booth, Treasurer 

Elizabeth Brandeis, Member-at-large 

Tracy Franklin, South-Central Region 

Jane Somerville, East Region 

Esther Willms, Secretary 

Lisa Weston, Vice-President 

Katrina Kilroy, President 

Front Row: 

Kelly Gascoigne, South-West Region 

Shelley-Ann Clarke-Dolby, North Region 

Madeleine Clin, West Region 

Jane Erdman, Member-at-large 

The AOM Board of Directors is an elected 

body that is responsible for the governance 

and strategic decisions of the AOM. 

In addition, Board Members have important 

legal and fiduciary responsibilities. 

The Board ensures that the mission of the 

AOM is articulated in all of the Association’s 

work and that members are well 

served and represented by the Association. 

To that end, the Board develops and 

regularly reviews the strategic plan. 

The Board provides financial oversight, 

including the approval of an annual 

budget (which reflects the resources 

needed to implement the strategic plan) 

and ensures that proper financial controls 

are in place. The Board recruits and 

orients new Board Members and assesses 

Board performance. In addition, Board 

Members are active on the AOM’s many 

committees. 

Serving on the Board is a challenging 

and rewarding activity that requires a 

commitment of time, skill and expertise. 

Thank you to the Members of the 2010 

Board for the dedication and insight they 

have provided in furthering the work of 

the Association. 

2010 STAFF Directors 

Kelly Stadelbauer, Executive Director 

Tasha MacDonald, Director of Clinical and 

Professional Guidelines 

Christine Staley, Director of Clinical and 

Professional Development 

Juana Berinstein, Director of Policy and 

Communications 

Bobbi Soderstrom, Director of Insurance 

and Risk Management 


Committees and Work Groups (at April 2011) 

While the Board is responsible for the 

overall governance of the Association, 

Committees and Work Groups provide 

specific direction and action in a particular 

area. 

Through their dedication to Committees 

and Work Groups, midwives were a positive 

and integral force in moving forward 

important Association work (see pages 6-9). 

Two new additions were created this year: 

the Clinical and Professional Development 

Work Group, which guides the planning of 

educational sessions, and the Birth Centres 

Work Group, which oversees the provincial 

election campaign. 

None of these accomplishments 

would have been possible without the 

perseverance and thoughtfulness of 

members. On behalf of all of the members 

of the Association who benefit from your 

time and energy, thank you. 

Negotiations Committee 

Katrina Kilroy, Chair 

Madeleine Clin 

Tracy Franklin 

Lisa Weston 

Esther Willms 

Anne Wilson 

Staff Support: Kelly Stadelbauer, Juana 

Berinstein, Vivian Lee, Sabina Hikel, 

Maryellen Boyes, Louise Pilfold 

Insurance & Risk Management Program 

Steering Committee 

Remi Ejiwunmi, Chair 

Kim Cloutier Holtz 

Abigail Corbin 

Elana Johnson 

Lisa Weston 

Carolyn Prior van Fraassen 

Staff Support: Cheryl Runge, Louise Pilfold, 

Cindy Hutchinson, Maryellen Boyes 

Clinical Practice Guidelines 

Sub-Committee 

Liz Darling, Chair 

Cheryllee Bourgeois 

Corinne Hare 

Jenni Huntly 

Paula Salehi 

Lynlee Spencer 

Lisa Weston 

Rhea Wilson 

Staff Support: Tasha MacDonald, Suzannah 

Bennett, Anna Meuser 

VBAC CPG Work Group 

Liz Darling 

Jenni Huntly 

Lisa Weston 

Manavi Handa 

Devi Krieger 

Chris Sternberg 

Hypertensive Disorders CPG Work Group 

Liz Darling 

Tracy Franklin 

Andrea Cassidy 

Rhea Wilson 

PROM CPG Work Group 

Liz Darling 

Teresa Bandrowska 

Cheryllee Bourgeois 

Corinne Hare 

Clinical and Professional Development 

Work Group 

Abigail Corbin 

Madeleine Clin 

Annita Damsa-Young 

Manavi Handa 

Sara Stainton 

Jane Somerville 

Sara Sally Morgan (student) 

Staff Support: Mel Hartzel 

Emergency Skills Workshop 

Work Group 

Leslie Viets, Chair 

Kerstin Helen-Thompson 

Jay MacGillivray 

Sarilyn Zimmerman 

Mary Sharpe 

Mary Ann Leslie 

Staff Support: Bobbi Soderstrom, Laura Da 

Rocha, Athanasia Oriotis, Maryellen Boyes, 

Cheryl Runge 

Policy Committee 

Elizabeth Brandeis, Chair 

Kelly Graff 

Leah Klein (student) 

Beth Murray-Davis 

Mina Sharafbafy 

Sara Stainton 

Trish Steele 

Rebecca Weeks-Toth 

Natalie Wright 

Staff Support: Juana Berinstein, Sabina 

Hikel, Pauline Matthews 

Hospital Integration Committee 

Jane Somerville, Chair 

Ren Barrett 

Melissa Coubrough (student) 

Jane Flindall 

Lynn Hendrick (student) 

Ann Robinson 

Barbara Santen 

Maureen Silverman 

Jackie Whitehead 

Staff Support: Juana Berinstein, Vivian Lee, 

Alisa Simon, Pauline Matthews 

Audit Committee 

Allyson Booth, Chair 

Jane Erdman 

Claudette Leduc 

Anne Wilson 

Staff Support: Kelly Stadelbauer, Colleen 

Vandeyck, Maryellen Boyes, Louise Pilfold 

Diversity Work Group 

Manavi Handa, Chair 

Janette Batacharya 

Erin Calder (student) 

Shâdé Chatrath 

Mico Devos 

Geneviève Gagnon 

Jay MacGillivray 

Nicole Romeiko 

Wendy Wong 

Staff Support: Juana Berinstein, Vivian Lee, 

Alisa Simon, Pauline Matthews 

Birth Centres Work Group 

Tracy Franklin, Chair 

Kelly Dobbin 

Connie Fetterly 

Tiffany Fung (student) 

Genevieve Gagnon 

Jerren Helwig 

Andrea Lennox 

Ann Robinson 

Judy Rogers 

Nicole Romeiko 

Ingeborg Roorda 

Mary Sharpe 

Carla Sorbara 

Chris Sternberg 

Staff Support: Juana Berinstein, Kim Elmslie, 

Sabina Hikel, Joanna Zuk, Cindy Hutchinson, 

Pauline Matthews 


5

Committees and Work Groups (at April 2011) 

Kelly Stadelbauer, RN, BScN, MBA 

AOM Executive Director 

Dear Members, 

It is my great pleasure to present a 

summary of the accomplishments we 

achieved together this past year. 

2010 marked the first year of the AOM’s 

new three-year strategic plan. The plan 

consists of five main goals: 

• Support Normal Birth 

• Make Midwifery Central to the Provision 

of Maternal and Newborn Care in 

Ontario 

• Support the Successful Growth of 

Midwifery 

• Support Members in Clinical and 

Practice Risk Management Issues 

• Support the Successful Growth of the 

Association 

I am particularly excited about the addition 

of a new strategic goal that ensures 

the AOM will devote time, energy and 

resources to supporting normal birth. 

We heard consistently from members 

in our strategic planning consultations 

that this was an important goal for the 

Association to add to our plan. 

The next few pages contain a summary 

of key objectives in each of the five 

strategic goals as well as highlights of 

accomplishments. The AOM continues 

to make progress in each area and will 

build on this plan and these successes 

in 2011. 

2010 has been a very busy year for the 

Board, committees, work groups and 

staff of the AOM. Much of our work in 

2010 was focused on putting in place 

the building blocks for larger projects 

in 2011 such as: funding agreement 

negotiations with the Ministry of 

Health and Long-Term Care; an election 

campaign focused on birth centres; and 

the development of a robust professional 

development program. Success 

in all aspects of the organization could 

not have been possible without the 

dedication of AOM members, Board and 

staff who contributed so much to the 

many projects and initiatives underway 

at the Association. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of 

the AOM and I look forward to another 

exciting year in 2011. 

In addition to internal committees 

and work groups, AOM representatives 

also serve on the following external 

committees: 

Joint Midwifery Advisory Committee 

(JMAC) 

Katrina Kilroy 


Kelly Stadelbauer 

Juana Berinstein 

Staff Support: Maryellen Boyes, Louise 

Pilfold 

Compensation Review and Advisory 

Committee (sub-committee of JMAC) 





Pilfold 

Clinical Audit Committee 

(sub-committee of JMAC) 

Jeannette Davies 

Sandra Gervais 


Staff Support: Vivian Lee 

AOM Benefits Trust 

Sushma Lachmansingh, Chair 

Rebekah Bradshaw 

Deborah Doiron 

Jane Erdman 


Kristen Stevens 

Karin Terpstra 

Jackie Whitehead 

Anne Wilson 

Staff Support: Colleen Vandeyck, Marlene 

Mahadeo, Deborah Schneider-Gagne 

AOM/Ontario Medical Association Liaison 

Work Group 

Elizabeth Brandeis 






Pilfold 

Joint Risk Management Work Group 

Remi Ejiwunmi 

Bobbi Soderstrom 



Pilfold 

Ontario Midwifery Reference Group 






Pilfold 

Canadian Association of Midwives, 

Board of Directors 


HIROC Risk Management Committee 

Remi Ejiwunmi 

ICM WHO Patient Safety Work Group 


Breastfeeding Services & Support Work 

Group Meeting, Provincial Council for 

Maternal & Child Health 


Child Health Network 


Ontario Public Health Association 

Reproductive Health Work Group 

Sara Stainton 

Coalition of Regulated Health Professional 

Associations 



Strategic Plan: Goals & Accomplishments 

Support Normal Birth 

Home Birth, Natural Birth and Vaginal 

Breech Birth 

This past year, the AOM officially added 

“support normal birth” to its strategic 

plan as part of a concerted effort to 

address perceptions of childbirth and 

interventions among consumers, 

government and other care providers. The 

AOM Board of Directors also endorsed the 

Canadian Association of Midwives’ (CAM) 

statement on normal birth. 

In addition to hospital rounds AOM 

president Katrina Kilroy delivered the 

presentation Home Birth: Facts, Biases 

and Liabilities at three conferences: 

the CAM conference, the Association 

of Women’s Health, Obstetric and 

Neonatal Nurses conference and the 

OHA conference: Maternal and Newborn 

Care - Meeting Community Needs and 

Integrating Midwives. Press releases were 

distributed to promote these sessions, 

specifically highlighting the findings in 

the presentation in contrast to the U.S. 

study by Wax et al. on home birth safety. 

Three well-attended webinars were also 

provided to AOM members to assist 

members in preparing rounds for other 

health professionals on home birth. 

A fact sheet, Home Birth in Ontario: 

Information for Health Care Providers, was 

developed to provide midwives with a tool 

to share with health care colleagues. 

In an effort to provide midwives with 

additional resources to discuss home 

birth with clients, the Choice of Birthplace 

brochure was developed and translated 

into eight languages (Arabic, Chinese 

(Simplified), Korean, Farsi, French, Russian, 

Spanish and Urdu). 

The 2010 AOM conference included a preconference 

workshop and plenary session 

on vaginal breech birth. 

Birth Centres in Ontario 

In anticipation of the Fall 2011 provincial 

election, the AOM has engaged in an 

exciting initiative to push for government 

support, resources and funding for birth 

centres in Ontario. To that end, the 

Birth Centres Work Group was formed, 

with representatives from the College 

of Midwives of Ontario (CMO), the 

Midwifery Education Program (MEP) 

and the International Midwifery Preregistration 

Program (IMPP). 

In the Fall 2010, the Board approved the 

“Ontario Midwives Support Birth Centres”, 

position statement, which can be found 

on the AOM website. 

Maternal/Newborn Outcomes in Special 

Populations 

With support from the Ministry of Health 

and Long-Term Care, the AOM continued 

its project aimed at developing and 

making available multilingual resources 

as well as resources and educational 

resources related to working with special 

population client groups. 

Tip sheets on providing care for 

lesbian, bisexual and queer women, 

trans masculine clients, women with 

disabilities, uninsured clients, pregnant 

teens and young mothers and women 

living in poverty were developed. 

Conference sessions as well as clinical 

days discussing these topics were hosted 

throughout the year. 

Plain-language documents discussing 

Group B Strep, VBAC and Model of Care 

were developed and translated into 

eight languages and made available to 

midwives to disseminate to clients. 

The AOM participated in the Women’s 

College Hospital Network on uninsured 

clients and endorsed a campaign to 

end the three-month wait for health 

insurance. In addition, the AOM endorsed 

the Five Principles for a New Nutritional 

Supplement drafted by the 25 in 5 

Network for Poverty Reduction and the 

Program Joint Statement on Poverty and 

Health in response to the government 

cancellation of the special diet allowance. 

Midwives and AOM staff have also taken 

part in the research symposium on 

uninsured clients hosted by Women’s 

College and the Wellesley Institute as 

well as a research initiative on uninsured 

clients led by the Toronto Hospital for Sick 

Children. 

Make Midwifery Central to the Provision 

of Maternal and Newborn Care 

Building Relationships with Government/ 

Stakeholders 

The AOM continues to develop 

and strengthen relationships with 

government and stakeholder groups 

and focus on encouraging greater 

education and knowledge of midwifery 

care as well as midwifery involvement in 

policy and planning. 

Continued meetings with the Ontario 

Midwifery Program (OMP) representatives 

and relationship building with the 

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care 

has facilitated problem-solving on an 

as-needed basis. 

AOM President Katrina Kilroy made a 

submission to the Standing Committee on 

Social Justice regarding the Excellent Care 

for All Act, supporting the establishment 

of quality control committees, a 

patient relations process and a patient 

declaration of values, while calling for a 

reduction in interventions and allowing 

care providers to maintain primary care as 

ways to ensure excellent patient care. 

Midwives supported Nurse Practitioners 

in their scope review, advocating for NPs 

to allow hospital admissions, discharge 

and transfer. The Ministry of Health 

and Long-Term Care is moving towards 

enacting these changes. 

The Association also took the opportunity 

to reach out to other teams sometimes 

involved in home birth and was invited 

by Toronto Emergency Medical Services 

to host two Emergency Skills Workshops 

devoted to providing knowledge and skills 

for out-of-hospital birth emergencies. Five 

sessions took place last year that were 

so well received that three additional 

sessions have been added for 2011. 

In addition, the AOM reached out and 

developed a relationship with the Ontario 

Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) 

and published an article in the OACP 

newsletter highlighting the safety of 

home birth as well as the education and 

training midwives receive regarding 

out-of-hospital birth. 

Media/Communications Support 

The AOM communications staff 

continued to respond to member requests 

regarding interaction with media. A list 

of midwives with expertise working with 

special populations or interprofessional 

care issues who could address these 

topics with the media was developed. 

The AOM continued to develop 

relationships with media. Stories aimed 

at both the public and other health 

care professionals ran in media outlets 

such as The Toronto Star, Hospital 

News, Canadian Healthcare Network, 

Metro, CBC Radio, Global TV and South 

Asian Generation Next. Stories included 


7


announcing that there are now 500 

midwives in Ontario, promoting midwives 

who have won awards, introducing 

and promoting the OHA Hospital 

Integration Manual and profiling the MEP 

Post-Baccalaureate Program for Health 

Professionals. 

The AOM newsletter, Ontario Midwife, 

was itself honoured by the Canadian 

Society of Association Executives, earning 

the award for Best Newsletter. 

Hospital Integration 

The long-anticipated resource manual 

Sustaining Quality Midwifery Services in 

Hospitals was launched at an Ontario 

Hospital Association (OHA) conference 

in the fall. Working in collaboration with 

the OHA and CMO, the AOM contributed 

significantly to the manual’s development 

and content. After actively promoted 

the conference to both members and 

other health care providers, the AOM was 

pleased to see a high attendance at the 

conference and interest in the manual. 

Thanks to support from the Ministry of 

Health and Long-Term Care, the AOM 

and CMO have made a printed copy of 

the manual available to every midwifery 

practice. 

This past Fall, the AOM launched the 

Hospital Integration Toolkit, available for 

download from the AOM website, to help 

midwives address hospital integration 

challenges such as obtaining privileges 

and maintaining primary care. 

Rural and Remote 

The AOM continued to provide support 

to rural and remote midwives, hosting 

three teleconferences in an effort to hear 

directly from midwives about their needs 

and adequacy of the locum program. 

The AOM locum program provided 30 

weeks of locum relief to 8 midwives. 

The AOM also reached out to develop 

a relationship with the Society of Rural 

and Remote Physicians of Canada 

by attending their 2010 conference, 

initiating discussions with the group 

about further collaboration. 

Support the Successful Growth of 

Midwifery 

Strong Negotiations Process 

Consultations with members took place 

at the Spring 2010 regional meetings. 

The AOM Negotiations Committee began 

meeting in spring 2010 in preparation 

for negotiating with the Ministry of 

Health and Long-Term Care in the Fall. 

A negotiations team was selected and a 

full slate of issues to be negotiated was 

identified. 

The Compensation Review Committee 

was struck, and oversaw the process 

of hiring an independent third party 

to undertake an analysis of midwifery 

compensation. A comprehensive report 

regarding the history of midwifery 

compensation was completed, making 

several key recommendations to the 

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. 

These recommendations were then 

taken to the AOM’s negotiations with the 

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. 

Following consultation with practices 

about requests for the funding of clinical 

equipment, the AOM, in cooperation 

with the CMO, MEP, IMPP and the OMP, 

completed two equipment reviews and 

made recommendations to the OMP for 

the funding of additional midwiferyrelated 

equipment. 

Addressing Hospital Privileging Issues 

The AOM supported numerous individual 

midwives and practices to address 

unnecessary restrictions on hospital 

privileges and scope. 

The AOM Board of Directors approved two 

new position statements: Maintaining 

Primary Care for Clients Who Access 

Induction, Augmentation and Epidural and 

Ontario Midwives Support Birth Centres. 

Increase Success of New Practices 

The former AOM business guide, 

now known as the Midwifery Practice 

Management Guide, was rewritten and 

made available on the AOM website. 

The guide provides valuable information 

to midwives considering making an 

application for a new practice as well as 

those who have recently established a 

practice. 

The AOM hosted a new practice 

orientation for midwives who had 

submitted new practice proposals, and 

those researching them. 

Promotion and Outreach 

With support from the Ministry of 

Health and Long-Term Care, the AOM has 

continued a project initiated last year to 

produce translated documents to broaden 

the resources available to clients. 

Three plain-language documents were 

created to help communicate clinical 

information to clients: Model of Care, 

Group B Strep and VBAC. These three 

documents were translated into eight 

languages and made available for all 

practice groups via the AOM website. 

Supporting CAM 

In addition to supporting the Canadian 

Association of Midwives’ position 

statement on normal birth, the 

AOM provided communications and 

promotional support to strengthen CAM’s 

various efforts. 

A press release announcing the 

appointment of new president Anne 

Wilson was distributed and generated 

coverage from local Hamilton/Burlington 

media. 

The AOM is supporting CAM in promoting 

the 2011 International Confederation of 

Midwives’ annual conference to Canadian 

midwives and CAM members. Content 

on the Road to Durban initiative was 

generated and used on the CAM website. 

Support Members in Emerging Clinical 

and Practice Risk Management Issues 

Insurance and Risk Management Program 

The IRMP staff and Committee continues 

to advocate for appropriate liability 

insurance coverage in an always changing 

insurance and medicolegal landscape. 

An increase in insurance limits was 

implemented in 2010. AOM continues to 

receive important and valuable support 

from HIROC in undertaking insurance 

renewals and risk management activities. 

The AOM once again provided 

administrative support to Nova Scotia 

midwives on their 2010 liability insurance 

renewal. 

Information and templates were 

developed to assist members to comply 

with Bill 168 (amendments to the 

Occupational Health and Safety Act): 

Six Bulletins were developed and 

distributed in 2010 covering a wide 

range of topics. These Bulletins also 

included nine different protocol/policy 

templates for use in clinical and practice 

management settings. 



attended at full capacity. 

A new CPG sub-committee was formed 

in 2010, as well as three work groups 

to support the development of the 

hypertension, PROM and VBAC guidelines. 

Risk Management 

The Insurance and Risk Management 

Program (IRMP) worked extensively with 

the Health Insurance Reciprocal of Canada 

(HIROC) to update the RMSAM survey, 

which was sent out in February 2011 

to all practices. Results from the survey 

were shared at the Spring 2011 regional 

meetings. A second cycle of survey 

questions is planned for later this year. 

Tom Closson, President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association and Katrina Kilroy, RM and AOM President, present the 

new Resource Manual for Sustaining Quality Midwifery Services in Hospitals at the fall 2010 OHA conference titled 

Maternal and Newborn Care: Meeting Community Needs and Integrating Midwives 

The AOM successfully secured funding 

for the ongoing provision of the PLEASE 

line. During 2010, members of the 

IRMP staff and Committee ensured that 

AOM members received 24 hour 365 

day coverage of the PLEASE line. They 

responded to over 250 calls throughout 

the year, providing support to members 

on a broad range of insurance and risk 

management issues. 

Clinical and Professional Development 

The CPD department has been extremely 

active and engaged, bringing a greater 

number of events and broad range of 

educational topics to members. 

Four clinical webinars on home VBAC, 

using interpreters, data mining (MOR and 

BORN) and working with clients with high 

BMI were well attended and well received. 

Clinical education days exploring topics 

such as working with lesbian, bisexual 

and queer women, trans masculine 

clients, near misses and poor outcomes, 

perinatal mental health screening and 

management, and management of 

addictions took place across the province. 

In an effort to support and develop 

leadership skills among midwives, the 

AOM hosted two leadership days on 

being an effective voice in midwifery. 

In addition, two media skills training 

webinars focused on developing member 

confidence and expertise when dealing 

with the media were hosted. 

The Professional Development Fund 

continues to support midwives in a 

variety of professional development 

activities. 385 midwives received tuition 

reimbursement in 2010/11. 

Clinical Practice Guidelines 

The Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) 

Program has been in full swing this year, 

working hard to complete three new 

guidelines to join the three that were 

published last year. 

The newest guideline, Management of 

Prelabour Rupture of Membranes at Term, 

was published early in 2011 and will be 

joined later in the year by two guidelines 

currently in development that focus on 

vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) and 

hypertension. The CPG program is also 

currently evaluating potential topics for 

three additional guidelines. 

The CPG program received support via a 

Canadian Institutes of Health Research 

grant to develop and run a workshop 

on guideline methodology, which was 

Support Successful Growth of the 

Association 

Communication and Member Engagement 

In November, the Board of Directors 

committed to the development of a new 

website for consumers: ontariomidwives. 

ca. In an effort to support the 

Association’s push for birth centres in 

Ontario, a new consumer website has 

been developed and launched May 5, 

2011. This past year saw the AOM’s first 

foray into social media with a presence on 

Facebook and Twitter; a following on both 

has been building rapidly. 

Students 

Free educational events provided by the 

AOM has resulted in increased attendance 

by midwifery students. At the 2010 AOM 

conference, a breakfast session was 

hosted for students. 

Six students from the Midwifery 

Education Program completed 

placements in the policy department to 

strengthen links between the AOM and 

MEP as well as provide students with 

an understanding of the work the AOM 

carries out and policy issues affecting 

midwifery. 

Membership Benefits and Services 

This past spring, the AOM added HUB 

International Ltd., a home and auto 

insurance broker, to the Member Affinity 

Program. 


9

Resolution Report Back 

Member resolutions that are put forth at 

the AOM Annual General Meeting every 

year help to direct the priorities and work 

of the AOM. 

Following the passing of a resolution by 

the membership at the AGM, the Board 

then considers how to incorporate those 

resolutions into the strategic plan and 

what kind of resources to allocate to 

them. 

Four resolutions passed at the 2010 AGM. 

Pre-Natal Genetic Screening 

The first resolution was to strike a group 

to explore the subject of genetic screening. 

The Board approved the incorporation 

of this resolution into the 2010 – 2012 

strategic plan. Terms of reference for the 

task force have been drafted, members 

have been recruited and the first meeting 

will be held later in 2011. 

Eye Prophylaxis Sub-Committee 

The second resolution that passed was to 

strike a sub-committee of the Policy Committee 

with the purpose of conducting 

advocacy to change provincial legislation 

regarding eye prophylaxis. This new 

committee was also incorporated into the 

current strategic plan. Terms of reference 

have been drafted, members have been 

recruited, and the first meeting will be 

held in Fall 2011. 

Independent Contractor Issues 

A third resolution called for striking a 

committee that would examine independent 

contractor issues and address 

streamlining of new practices. The Board 

directed staff to use the fall 2010 regional 

meetings as an opportunity to consult 

with membership and to seek further 

clarification. Following the consultation, 

the AOM has addressed streamlining 

of new practices at JMAC (Joint Midwifery 

Advisory Committee); updated the 

Midwifery Practice Management Guide; 

revised the New Registrant tip sheet 

and committed to revising templates 

to ensure they continue to align with 

independent contractor and partnership 

law. 

Support for IPC 

The final resolution asked for greater 

support from the AOM around support 

for interprofessional care by providing 

resources and funding to midwives. The 

AOM produces a number of resources 

supporting IPC; after consulting with the 

mover of this motion, regional meetings 

were used as an opportunity to highlight 

the support the AOM provides regarding 

IPC. 

Mary Ann Leslie, RM, and MEP student Nzinga Wright at Midwifery Care - North Don River Valley 


The Association of Ontario 

Midwives is the professional 

organization representing 

midwives and the profession of 

midwifery in Ontario. 

Carron Canning, RM, with client Azra Champsi and her son 

Benefits of membership 

AOM membership supports these 

ongoing activities and projects: 

• AOM Annual General Meeting and 

Conference 

• Emergency Skills Workshops 

• Membership with the Canadian 

Association of Midwives (CAM), 

including receipt of the Canadian 

Journal of Midwifery Research and 

Practice 

• Maintaining relationships with 

various stakeholders and organizations 

related to maternal/child 

health 

• Advocating for the professional interests 

of midwives with the Ministry of 

Health and Long-Term Care 

• Participating in problem solving 

issues arising from the funding 

contract with the Ministry of Health 

and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and 

Transfer Payment Agencies (TPAs) 

• Planning for health and human 

resources for midwifery in collaboration 

with the Ontario Midwifery 

Program (OMP), Midwifery Education 

Programme (MEP), and the College of 

Midwives of Ontario (CMO) 

• Liaising with other professional 

midwifery bodies e.g. the Canadian 

Association of Midwives (CAM) and 

the International Confederation of 

Midwives (ICM) 

• Developing clinical guidelines for 

practice 

• Implementing continuing education 

programs for members 

• Ongoing public education and publicity 

campaigns 

• Developing practice management 

support tools for practice group 

administrators and partners 

• Negotiating access to professional 

liability insurance and administering 

the program 

• Enhancing the AOM website to 

include a secure members only 

section to provide members with 

convenient access to information 

• Producing Ontario Midwife - AOM’s 

award-winning newsletter that 

provides updates to members, 

stakeholders and consumers - now 

in an electronic format as well as in 

print 

• Negotiating group discounts (i.e. 

home and auto insurance) for AOM 

members which forms the basis for 

the Member Affinity Program 

Contact the AOM: 

365 Bloor St.. E., Suite 301 

Toronto, ON M4W 3L4 

phone: 416-425-9974 

toll-free: 1-866-418-3773 

fax: 416-425-6905 

www.aom.on.ca 

www.ontariomidwives.ca 


Executive Director 

416-425-9974, Ext. 2230 

executivedirector@aom.on.ca 


Director of Policy and 

Communications 

416-425-9974, Ext. 2229 

directorpolicy@aom.on.ca 

Christine Staley 

Director of Clinical and 

Professional Development 

416-425-9974, Ext. 2224 

cpddirector@aom.on.ca 

Tasha MacDonald, RM 

Director of Clinical Practice 

Guidelines 

416-425-9974, ext. 2219 

cpgdirector@aom.on.ca 

Bobbi Soderstrom, RM 

Director of Insurance & Risk 

Management 

416-425-9974, Ext. 2418 

riskmanagement@aom.on.ca 


11

www.aom.on.ca 

www.ontariomidwives.ca 

www.facebook.com/OntarioMidwives 

On Twitter: @ontariomidwives 

www.youtube.com/user/OntarioMidwives 

Copyright © Association of Ontario Midwives 2011

Association of Ontario Midwives 2010/2011 Annual Report

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