The Vancouver Foundation has provided $150,000 to study the utilization of midwifery services in B.C.

Saraswathi Vedam, a UBC associate professor in the midwifery division, and nine co-investigators will look into why the use of midwives is not evenly distributed across the population. According to a statement on the Women’s Health Research Institute website, two community consultations have already determined that some midwifery patients “felt stigmatized when their choices were perceived to be in conflict with the community standard of care”.

“Community midwives and rural women described populations that could benefit from but were currently underserved by midwives, and suspected that multiple barriers to access exist for vulnerable women,” the statement notes.

In May, the B.C. government announced a $1.9-million grant and an annual increase of $833,920 in operating funds to expand the UBC midwifery program.