B.C. expanding role of midwives to include abortion care

FILE: A midwife performs an ultrasound in an undated Shutterstock image.

The role of midwives in B.C. will soon expand to include the ability to prescribe an abortion pill.

The change is just one of several announced Thursday by Health Minster Josie Osbourne, to improve access to reproductive health services across the province.

Mifegymiso is a pill used to treat an early miscarriage, or to provide a safe medical abortion within the first trimester.

Currently only midwives in Quebec and Saskatchewan have the authority to prescribe the drug in Canada.

The change is expected to benefit people living in remote and rural communities, who typically have to travel long distances to access reproductive care.

It also puts the province’s health-care system in stark contrast to our neighbours to the south.

“At a time when reproductive rights are under attack, we will continue to expand access to safe and confidential abortion care, and we will always stand up for a woman’s right to choose,” Osbourne said in a press conference Wednesday.

The expanded role of midwives will also include the ability to prescribe medication for the management of hypothyroidism and to suppress lactation after childbirth.

Midwives will also be able to perform ultrasounds for more clinical purposes, such as determining where a fetus is located during early pregnancy.

There are currently 499 midwives practicing in the province, and in 2025 they were involved in 30 per cent of births. They must complete a four-year university program, and be licensed by the BC College of Nurses and Midwives.

Osbourne says she expects the changes will help reduce pressure on family physicians, as well as put their education to better use. “Midwives are highly trained experts in pregnancy and reproductive care, and expanding their scope of practice allows them to fully use that training to support people through a broader range of needs,” she said.

Thursday’s announcement builds on other changes to midwives’ scope of practice that came into effect last month.

Since April 1, midwives have been able provide birth control services, such as copper IUD insertions or prescriptions for birth control pills, at any stage of life. Previously they could only provide this to people who are within three months postpartum. They are also now allowed to use all methods to induce labour, and use ultrasounds to check on the baby before birth.

The changes announced Thursday are the result of consultation with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives earlier this year. The province says they will work with the college to expedite regulation changes as quickly as possible.

“As the regulator, BCCNM plays a key role in ensuring expanded scope activities are implemented safely and in the public interest,” said Natasha Prodan-Bhalla, CEO and registrar at the BC College of Nurses and Midwives in a news release Thursday.

Once the regulations changes have been made, the college will develop standards of practice, and work with the University of British Columbia to provide any additional training that may be required.