Calling the midwife is catching on in Taber
Channel: RhPAP
Date: 2020-12-30

Stacy Peleskey is a midwife in Taber, AB. 

A few years ago, expecting moms in Taber who wanted to see a midwife had to drive an hour away to Brooks. Peleskey used to practise in Brooks, but a few years ago she moved her practice to Taber, where she grew up on a farm just outside of town.

Business is booming. In fact, Peleskey's client list is pretty much full and she says there is easily enough work for a second midwife in Taber.

Before becoming a midwife, she was a registered nurse at the Taber Health Centre. That’s where she first discovered her passion for labour and delivery.

“I really loved it,” says Peleskey. “[Expecting moms] would come in in labour and I always volunteered to be the nurse.”

Eventually though, she found herself longing for a deeper connection with expectant moms.

“I would meet people for the very first time and they were eight centimetres dilated sometimes and about to have a baby,” says Peleskey. “And you have 20 minutes to build a rapport. Or you’re with someone all day, then your shift ends and you may, or may not, be there for the delivery.”

After spending time with midwives in Cardston, she discovered that midwifery was her true calling.

“I have such a good relationship with our clients,” says Peleskey. “I like that I’ve built up that whole ten months of relationship with our families. We know a lot about them. I know what their hopes are for their birth.”

Peleskey also visits her post-partum clients for six weeks after they give birth. 

Midwives in Alberta are independent practitioners. Instead of seeing a doctor throughout their pregnancy, expecting moms can choose to see a midwife instead. Midwives can order medications, lab-work, ultrasounds, and pretty much anything else mom needs. 

If complications occur, then the midwife consults with an obstetrician or the family physician.
 
“We do low risk healthy. [That] is the catchment for what our scope would be,” says Peleskey. “Our responsibility is to give clients all the information, the benefits, the risks, of every decision they make. They’re an active participant in making decisions. And we really empower them [because] this is their experience and we’re there to keep them safe.”