As we come to the end of this academic year, I want to thank our clinical preceptors, their practice partners, and office assistants, all who share their practices with our students. By accreditation standards, the bachelor degree content must be 50% clinical practice. Your teaching is vital to our students’ learning. We truly cannot educate more midwives without you. COVID pushed forward changes in BC midwifery practice that had already started. Alternative Practice Agreements have grown. Some midwives have limited practice to antepartum or postpartum visits. Some practices have stopped supporting birth at home. Cumulatively, these changes give our students fewer opportunities for the original continuity of care model written into BC midwifery practice regulations. Our faculty met of this academic term and revised student continuity of care requirements. When students return to placements this fall, they will have new continuity of care requirements, requirements that include fewer continuity care cases and a narrower window of continuity. The Midwifery faculty believe that providing continuity of care for an entire pregnancy is the best way of learning about growth and change during pregnancy. Continuity of care has been shown to reduce preterm labour, low birth weight babies, and cesarean section rates. We must, however, teach the students within the realities of clinical practice in BC. The letters to preceptors at the start of fall term will have the new continuity of care requirements. We haven’t forgotten our planned 20th-anniversary celebration for Vancouver Island. The Fraser Health Expansion and the new faculty and staff hiring associated with it have kept us busy. Our Vancouver Island celebration will be our next thank you for the great work all our clinical preceptors do. The faculty and I hope you all have time to enjoy family, good weather, and vacations over the summer. | Welcome!
Susan Van Bruggen Susan is our new Clinical Site Coordinator for the Fraser Health Midwifery Cohort, slated for fall 2023. With a lengthy career as Residency Program Secretary for the Department of Anesthesiology at UBC, Susan brings valuable experience to our team. | | Preceptor Call Out! From Judy DeFreitas, Clinical Placement Coordinator The UBC Midwifery Program needs more preceptors for our 2023/2024 school year. Thank you to those who have already completed the survey, and I am currently assigning students to all those who have already completed the survey. If you have not completed the survey and are interested in sharing your knowledge and skills with our next generation of midwives, please fill follow the attached link: ~ Judy, DeFreitas - Clinical Placement Coordinator Preceptor Survey | Our published professors! | | | Dr. Cecilia Jevitt and Lorna McRae Drs. Jevitt and Rowe published the original chapter from the United States. With the writing of the 4th edition, they wanted to be sure the social work practice was compatible with Canadian standards. Lorna McRae provided the perfect expertise. Read More | | | Faculty Research Award Winner:
Hamideh Bayrampour Hamideh Bayrampour has been awarded a UBC Killam Accelerator Research Fellowship. Based on her research productivity and promise, the Killam Accelerator Award will enable Hamideh to concentrate on her research and provides financial support to cover her teaching assignment. | | | | Province Invest in Maternity Care Expands UBC Midwifery Program UBC will graduate more midwives to provide care for B.C. families, thanks to an increase in midwifery program seats announced by the Government of B.C. | | BC Gov News B.C. families will have improved access to maternity care as the Province increases seats in the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) midwifery program by more than 70%. Read More | UBC Program Expanded The funding will significantly increase the program's capacity and make a positive difference for families. Read More | | | Faculty Careers The UBC Midwifery program is excited to announce that we are accepting applications from midwives with a Masters's degree to teach in Surrey, starting in fall 2023. As a world-renowned institution, UBC offers an exceptional learning environment that cultivates global citizenship, promotes sustainable societies, and supports outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world. If you are a passionate midwife with a desire to educate the next generation of midwives, we encourage you to visit the links below for further details. At UBC, we hire on the basis of merit and are committed to employment equity. We welcome and encourage all qualified persons to apply. Thank you for your interest in UBC Midwifery, and we look forward to receiving your application. Assistant Professor of Teaching (Tenure Track) Apply Lecturer, UBC Midwifery Program Apply | Acute Care of At-Risk Newborns (ACoRN) Workshop Registration is now open! Overview: ACoRN picks up where the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) leaves off. ACoRN provides the process, tools, skills and knowledge needed to assist in the stabilization of an at-risk and/or unwell newborn. This workshop helps care providers at the bedside to use a consistent systematic approach. April 20 (Thu) | 6–8 p.m. PDT | Zoom April 21–22 (Fri–Sat) | 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. PDT | In person | Vancouver, BC Audience: pediatricians, family medicine, midwifery, and nurse practitioners. Up to 16.0 Mainpro+ credits Learn more and register here 
*Please feel free to circulate the attachment in your practices. | Carol Hird Carol dedicated her life to helping others. After completing her midwifery and nursing studies in England, she moved to Canada, serving as a clinician, teacher, administrator, and advocate in the midwifery movement. | | In 2005, she received an honorary membership from the MABC for her exceptional contributions to midwifery in BC, including her role as President leading up to the 23rd ICM Triennial Congress in Vancouver. Together, in partnership with UBC Midwifery, the Midwives Association of BC, and many of Carol’s loving family, friends, and community, $25,905 has now been raised through the Carol Hird in Memoriam site at UBC. These generous donations over the past few years, along with the beautiful stories shared about Carol’s warmth and zest for life, tell of the impact she has made on so many people throughout her lifetime and the legacy she leaves behind. Through these funds raised, UBC has now established the Carol Hird Memorial Award in Midwifery which supports a student who is pursuing excellence in the Midwifery Program. | The award will support candidates from rural or remote areas of BC, and/or First Nations, Inuit, or Métis students and acknowledge their accomplishments. UBC Midwifery is excited to present the first award to a student this spring! Over the month of May, and during International Day of the Midwifery on May 5th, Dr. Brian Burtch, Carol’s husband, will be continuing fundraising efforts to augment the award in order to build its impact in the community. He will match every dollar raised throughout May, so please consider a donation at this time. Donations can be made online through the Carol Hird in Memoriam site: Carol Hird Memoriam | | Deborah Little Deb was a highly respected nurse and midwife who co-founded the Midwifery Demonstration Project at BC Women's Hospital, leading to the regulation of midwifery in BC. She mentored nurses and midwives with wisdom, respect, and humour and was appointed to the first Board of the College of Midwives of BC in 1995. She was instrumental in the development of the first Bachelor of Midwifery Education at UBC, dedicating her career to making midwifery a respected profession in BC. Read more | | We acknowledge that the UBC Vancouver campus is situated within the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam). | | | | |
