RMH to receive award from Association of Ontario Midwives

Ross Memorial Hospital has been selected by the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) board of directors to be the recipient of the AOM’s Hospital Integration Award 2024.

The objective of the award is to recognize an Ontario hospital that has demonstrated excellence in successfully integrating midwives into its organization. The AOM board made their decision based on the recommendation of their awards task force who reviewed all submitted nominations.

Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) works closely with the Midwives of Lindsay and the Lakes, who provide additional expertise in the hospital’s Dr. Gargi Bhatia Family Birthing Centre by promoting optimal pregnancy, physiologic birth, care of the newborn, and providing care of unattached parent and babies for up to six weeks of postpartum care (baby and parent checks, breastfeeding support, and mental health check-ins to prevent visits to the Emergency Department or Walk-In Clinics).

RMH’s obstetrics team (physicians, director, manager, and nurses) meets regularly with midwives, local family physicians, and other community partners to discuss high-risk situations, departmental policies, procedures, and schedules, and ways to increase awareness about services available.

The AOM Hospital Integration Award 2024 will be presented to RMH during the Midwifery Awards presentation taking place at a gala dinner event during the Ontario Midwifery Conference (OMC) on the evening of Tuesday, May 28, 2024, at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale.

Midwives have received privileges at Ross Memorial Hospital for more than 14 years. Midwives of Lindsay and the Lakes currently have four midwives – Zoe Haslam, Catha McMaster, Kirsten Schmidt, and Lindsay Tattersall.

Ross Memorial Hospital’s Dr. Gargi Bhatia Family Birthing Centre is a family-centred maternity unit that delivers approximately 300 babies per year. It is a Level 1b centre, which means that our team of obstetricians, family physicians, midwives, and nurses provide comprehensive care for pregnant patients with low-risk, healthy pregnancies and their newborns.

“The birth of a child is one of the most meaningful and memorable moments of any parent’s lives,” says Kelly Isfan, president and CEO of RMH. “Ross Memorial Hospital is thrilled to work so closely with the Midwives of Lindsay and the Lakes who share our goal of providing evidence-based pregnancy care and a childbirth experience that is patient-centred, welcoming and safe.”

“Midwives of Lindsay and the Lakes is proud of the collaborative work being done with Ross Memorial Hospital,” adds Catha McMaster, a midwife with Midwives of Lindsay and the Lakes. “The hospital has always been an engaged partner when it comes to the Midwives of Lindsay and the Lakes achieving our mission of proactively serving our community by providing compassionate, holistic support services for pregnant and parenting people to reach their full potential.”

Jasmin Tecson, president of the Association of Ontario Midwives board of directors, concurs, noting that “it is clear that Ross Memorial Hospital’s integration of Ontario Midwives has been exceptional and worthy of celebration.”