Midwives play a vital role in supporting patients through their pregnancy journey, establishing strong connections with both the expectant individuals and their families as they prepare for parenthood. This close relationship uniquely positions midwives to recognize and address instances of family violence that their patients may experience.

To support midwives in addressing family violence and abuse, Elvira Truglia, Knowledge Translation Lead at the Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM) and Carol Couchie, Indigenous Mentorship Lead at the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives (NCIM) have developed a comprehensive curriculum in their continuing education workshops and expert resources.

Tune into this episode of Healthcare Change Makers to learn more about how their innovative project empowers both current and future midwives in providing trauma-informed care, and how they work to collaborate with their essential partners at McMaster University's Midwifery Education Program and the NCIM.

Quotables:

"We try to talk about very complicated ways of looking at our society and prepare our midwives to be able to handle situations and look at the bigger picture." – CC

"Family violence can take many forms, it's not just about physical violence, it can be psychological, emotional and even financial." – ET

"We're hoping to sew the seeds of healthy relationships for families that are experiencing violence. With this project, we're hoping that early intervention could mitigate the impact of family violence." – ET

"We really try to talk to the midwives and students that you're never going to know all the answers, you're not necessarily going to become some kind of expert on how to handle families who are experiencing violence. But what we want you to do is find out what's out there, find out your resources, get your back up." – CC

"Trauma informed care is about welcoming and making people feel comfortable, forgiving missed appointments, asking people if they'd like a glass of water, thanking them for coming, and understanding how difficult it may have been for them to get there." – CC

"Kindness and love and patience are really what is needed for the most vulnerable in our community." – CC

"We're hoping that through some of this work we're creating a conversation that starts to take away the taboo of talking about violence." – ET

"As midwives we really have this beautiful opportunity to greet brand new human beings that come onto the planet and see that change happening and I want to greet those babies in a way that's least violent as possible." – CC

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM)

• McMaster University Midwifery Education Program

• National Council of Indigenous Midwives

• Graphic Novel: Something Is Off

• CAM – Family Violence Resources

• Community Midwives of Ottawa

• Association of Ontario Midwives

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