Comment: Family doctor shortage is dangerous for pregnant people and babies

I received an email this week from a woman who, at four months pregnant, was desperately looking for a doctor.

She doesn’t have a family doctor and is now joining the ranks of women who cannot find a doctor or midwife to care for her during her pregnancy.

Who will book her ultrasounds? Who will monitor the fetus’s health or check its heartbeat? Who will monitor her for gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and antenatal depression?

Who will make sure her weight and iron levels are appropriate for a healthy pregnancy? These are dangerous conditions and lack of proper prevention, diagnosis, and treatment can lead to severe risks to the health of both mother and baby.

Continuity of care from a doctor or midwife is essential for healthy pregnancies, births and babies.

I am outraged. How can our government and our Ministry of Health leave these people in such a vulnerable state, especially when the risks of not providing adequate health care are so high?

Vital care from doctors doesn’t end when the baby is born. In B.C., it is recommended that children attend no fewer than 12 well-baby visits before their third birthday. This is a nearly impossible task without a consistent primary care provider.

These visits aren’t just for the little ones either. Postpartum bodies and minds also need care and attention from medical professionals.

To see a doctor, families must either wait hours at one of the few remaining walk-in clinics, or line up at an Urgent and Primary Care Centre hours before it opens in the hopes of being seen.

If your child needs urgent medical attention (say for a fever or an odd rash), a parent’s only option is often to wait for hours at the local emergency department.

Anyone who has cared for an infant or a toddler will tell you that these options are nearly impossible with a squirmy, impatient, and possibly unwell child.

Pregnant people, babies and toddlers have been left behind by B.C.’s health-care system. Health care during these vulnerable months and years is vital for health, well-being, and even survival. This lack of healthcare is a crisis and it is atrocious and shameful that our government and Ministry of Health are leaving them behind.

When will this government begin to take meaningful, tangible action to rectify this dire situation?

I’ve decided to turn my outrage into action. I refuse to sit idly by while young children and soon-to-be parents are put at risk.

I will continue to help people who are suffering because of a lack of access to health care by advocating for them and amplifying their voices.

More information is at www.BCHealthCareMatters.com