During this pandemic we have two goals:

• To keep our clients, families and our staff safe
• To keep our midwives healthy so they can remain in the workforce, providing care to all of you.
  

In order to fulfil these two goals, we will need to alter how we provide care to our clients.

Please read our most up to date policies HERE.

Entering our clinic:

1. Please do the COVID self-screen sent via email in your appointment reminder. Please do not enter if you feel unwell. We are more than happy to switch your appointment to a virtual appointment at any time.
2. We invite you to bring a support person to your appointment. We strongly encourage your support people to be vaccinated. Please have your support person fill out the COVID self-screen.
3. Medical grade masks must be worn at the clinic at all times. Cloth masks and face shields cannot be worn at the clinic at this time.  We will provide fresh masks at the entrance for people to put on when they enter the clinic.  Please keep your mask over your mouth and nose. Pinch the top of your mask, over your nose, to form a better seal.
4. Please try to keep six feet (2 metres away) from staff and other clients whenever possible.
5. Please use hand sanitizer upon arrival.

Masking policy: Refer here for more details

Changing the flow of people at our clinic: We are making the following changes to reduce transmission:

• The Blue Team and Orange Team will hold clinic on the same two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) but the teams will stagger appointment start times to reduce the number of people in our waiting room.
• Virtual Care: If you would prefer a virtual appointment, we are happy to do this. Please request this when booking an appointment. 
• Your first appointment (history appointment) will be a virtual appointment. 

Hospital births: As of June 3 2022, two visitors or support people are permitted at the bedside for Labour and Delivery and the NICU. Support people are not required to be vaccinated. 

You can find the most updated visitor guidelines here: https://www.niagarahealth.on.ca/site/visitorinformation 

During this time when hospital resources are scarce, we are asking that if you are stable and able, to strongly consider early discharge from hospital after you give birth.

Home Births: We will continue to offer choice of birthplace. Home birth can be a great way to keep people and their babies out of the hospital, however, we need to be certain that every person requesting a home birth is a good candidate for home birth (ie. low risk of complications). If any household members are sick or have screened positive for COVID-19, your midwife will engage in an informed choice discussion with you about your choice of birthplace. Hospital births are strongly recommended for clients who screen or test positive for COVID-19 due to a greater ability to adopt COVID-19 precautions and as your infant may require a higher level of hospital care.