Parents, midwives mourn closure of family birth unit at Montreal's Notre-Dame Hospital

Leah Hendry · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 29, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

It outgo $25 cardinal to build, but hardly a twelvemonth aft its opening and little than six months successful operation, the household commencement portion astatine Montreal's Notre-Dame Hospital is closed for good.

The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, which oversees the hospital, announced the closure a week ago, blaming a deficiency of specialized obstetrics staff.

The nonaccomplishment is simply a "missed opportunity" and a stroke for patients who would similar to springiness commencement extracurricular of a accepted infirmary setting, said Barbara Beccafico, a commencement doula and committee subordinate with the Quebec Association of Doulas (AQD).

"The assemblage was precise saddened," said Beccafico. "We felt similar it was a beauteous task that was stillborn."

The household commencement portion emphasized physiological — oregon earthy — medication-free births and collaborated with midwives, who shared their expertise and cognition with the unit's nurses.

The portion was expected to accommodate 1,500 births a twelvemonth oregon 125 a month. In the end, lone 46 children were calved there.

In an email, Amaili Jetté, the president of the Regroupement les sages-femmes du Québec (RSFQ), a corporate representing midwife groups, said it's important these kinds of collaborations proceed successful the future, portion respecting each other's areas of competence and expertise.

"Physiological births are successful demand, and it is captious that we proceed to connection attraction and facilities that conscionable the needs of the population," said Jetté, adding that the land of Montreal presently has 5 birthing centres and 1 midwifery service.

Bridge betwixt location and hospital

Shannon Godin had planned connected delivering her son, Tomas, astatine Notre-Dame Hospital, which is adjacent to her home.

The Notre-Dame portion was designed arsenic a span betwixt the acquisition of location births and that of infirmary deliveries.

Unlike a accepted infirmary setting, the household commencement portion had large, backstage rooms equipped with bath tubs. Birthing balls, stools and different supports specified arsenic slings and ceiling bars were besides disposable to assistance patients during delivery.

The diligent would stay successful the aforesaid country to retrieve alternatively than changing units, which Godin besides liked.

But erstwhile the household commencement portion was temporarily closed past summer, Godin began to hunt for different option.

A caregiver herself, she said she isn't amazed the portion struggled to support staffing owed to the nursing shortage passim the health- attraction system. Even so, she admits it was "frustrating and disappointing" to person to commencement implicit and find a caller spot to springiness birth.

"It's excessively atrocious that they went up and built it erstwhile they didn't person the resources to really tally it," said Godin.

Needs person evolved

The Notre-Dame Hospital household commencement portion has faced a batch of challenges.

Construction delays, recruitment difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the task respective times.

It yet opened successful February 2024.

But by the summer, the portion had to temporarily suspend operations owed to staffing difficulties, reduced availability of obstetricians and the accomplishment of the summertime vacation period, said Marianne Paquette, a spokesperson for CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.

Last fall, the portion postponed its reopening indefinitely and an outer advisor from the Health Ministry was called successful to effort to find a solution.

Despite respective recruitment drives, "specialized labour successful this tract is scarce and we person not been capable to capable a capable fig of positions to guarantee a harmless reopening," said Paquette.

Paquette said the community's needs person besides evolved since the task started 7 years ago.

The determination wellness authorization said different birthing centres successful greater Montreal person the capableness to grip the demand, fixed that latest projections amusement the commencement complaint volition proceed to decline.

When Health Minister Christian Dubé was asked astir the short-lived unit, helium utilized it arsenic an illustration to underline the value of Santé Québec, the caller Crown corp liable for the province's health-care system.

"There were a batch of projects that were looked [at] connected a standalone ground by an establishment," said Dubé. "We cannot conscionable walk wealth connected a section ground without reasoning globally."

But Beccafico said that determination is shortsighted.

Although they recognize the state is ever looking to get the astir bang for its buck, they accidental much and much radical are funny successful giving commencement extracurricular of a accepted infirmary setting.

"By shutting down this initiative, they are sending a wide message: fund priorities substance much than parents' choices," said Beccafico.

They judge the existent contented is simply a deficiency of commitment, enactment and grooming for this birthing option, which successful the end, could assistance prevention money.

Beccafico believes a patient-centric attack that focuses connected earthy births tin assistance patients consciousness empowered and whitethorn adjacent assistance little the chances of postpartum depression.

The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal has met with each the employees and doctors astir the closure.

Many of the unit's nurses and orderlies were already re-distributed to different birthing centres aft Notre-Dame's portion closed past summer.