This month marks 10 years of practice for Orillia Midwives - a milestone of success and growth for the organization.
“It feels like (opening the practice) was yesterday and it also feels like so much has happened in those 10 years at the same time,” says founding midwife Kelly Armstrong.
Armstrong began studying midwifery as she thought it allowed her to help pregnant people navigate the changes and choices they were experiencing with “a sense of cooperation and mutual respect.”
She practised in Kenora for two years before applying for funding to open a clinic in Orillia in February of 2010.
As a part of the primary health-care system, opening a new midwifery practice requires government funding. Money is then granted or denied based on community need.
When Armstrong applied to open Orillia Midwives, midwifery clinics from Barrie, Collingwood, Muskoka and even Haliburton were providing care for the area.
“There was really no practice in town, and that didn’t feel right,” says Orillia Midwives partner Jessica Taylor.
While these surrounding practices were providing great care, she says, having a practice for the community itself has been more practical as clients and midwives don’t have to travel as much to receive or provide care.
When the practice opened in November of 2010, Taylor and Armstrong were the only two midwives operating out of the small office above Wellwise by Shoppers on Colborne Street.
“We didn’t really have any days off in those early (years),” says Armstrong.
In the midwifery practice, two midwives usually attend each labour. This meant both Taylor and Armstrong were on call 24-7 until another midwife was hired about two years later.
Orillia Midwives now share a larger office space with family doctor Karim Dharssi closer to the hospital on Colborne Street. Five registered midwives strong, the practice provides care for about 100 clients annually according to Armstrong.
This growth has taken lots of time, says Taylor, as midwifery practices generally grow by word of mouth. Relationships with local doctors, nurses, pediatricians and the like have also developed considerably over the past decade.
Taylor says the Orillia community has always been very welcoming, but getting to a place where other primary-care providers understand their mission and goals simply takes time.
“When we go into the hospital now, I know who the nurses are, they know who I am, we chat,” says Taylor. "We’ve really grown in the community and I feel like the community has really grown into us and let us be part of it.”
These relationships with hospital staff help enhance support for patients according to Armstrong, especially as about 75 per cent of the births they attend take place in hospitals.
“I think that makes families feel extra well cared for when everybody can wrap around and give the level of care that they need,” she said.
Normally, Orillia Midwives would hold a reunion picnic celebration for their anniversary where past clients are invited to bring their kids and celebrate with staff.
Registered midwife Emily Morris, who joined the practice in 2016, says the day is a fun event that allows staff to catch up with the women they've provided care for and see the kids they helped birth - some of whom are now nearing 10 years old.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the staff will have a small lunch-hour celebration and enjoy cake. While small, Taylor says this year’s celebration is also somewhat fitting for the practice.
“Although I would, of course, prefer there were other (events) we could do, that also in some ways feels appropriate too - just Kelly and I in an office trying to figure out where to put the tables,” Taylor said.
The pandemic has additionally changed the way Orillia Midwives runs their practice. They now see clients less frequently to reduce the risk of exposure, and partners and kids aren’t allowed to come with expecting mothers to clinic appointments.
They’ve recently realized some of their clients may have never seen their full faces either as the midwives are always wearing masks.
“A lot of what we do is build relationships, teach and set expectations and that’s harder to do with limiting the number of visits,” says Armstrong.
Despite drawbacks, the pandemic has shone a light on the high number of new families who either don’t have a family doctor or rely on one in a larger city such as Toronto.
In order to reduce travel or reliance on emergency room visits to get postpartum care during the pandemic, the government provided funding for Orillia Midwives to begin seeing healthy newborns of families without a family doctor in the area.
Morris took over most of this postpartum work, and says the practice applied for funding to perform this kind of care permanently in July now that the need for such has been highlighted.
“It’s been nice to help out our community in that way, and we’re all just really committed to looking after the parents and babies in our community,” says Morris.
Armstrong and Taylor say they both have daydreams and ideas for potential community projects in the future, though they remain distant goals for the time being especially as the pandemic makes the future difficult to plan for.
Aside from expanding into postpartum care for healthy newborns, Armstrong says the profession likely won’t grow a whole lot more. For now, the focus is on continuing to provide quality care to growing families.
Abby Hughes, a lifelong Orillia resident and Orillia Secondary School graduate, is a second-year Ryerson University journalism student interning with OrilliaMatters.
