Health and Community Services
September 26, 2017
Midwifery Consultant Starts Important Work
Gisela Becker has started work in her role as the Provincial Midwifery Consultant with the Department of Health and Community Services.
Ms. Becker has formally registered with the Newfoundland and Labrador Council of Health Professionals, making her the province’s first registered midwife under the Health Professions Act. The council is the regulatory body responsible for registration, professional standards, quality assurance and discipline of this profession.
Ms. Becker’s role is not to actively practice midwifery in a clinical setting. Instead, her role is to lead the team that will introduce midwifery services into the public health care system. Over the next twelve months, Ms. Becker will work with the four regional health authorities, as well as the Association of Midwives of Newfoundland and Labrador, the College of Midwives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the council to set up these services. The first area of focus will be in central Newfoundland.
Biographical information for Ms. Becker can be found in the backgrounder below.
This builds on the introduction of the Midwives Regulations, which came into force under the Health Professions Act on September 30, 2016.
Quotes
“This is great news. Midwifery is an important initiative for me, both as a Minister and from a personal perspective. My late wife was a midwife, so I understand the value that this profession will bring to the public system. Ms. Becker’s arrival is another step in our efforts to establish midwifery in our province and I am very excited to have her on board. She will help to set the stage for these services with her wealth of knowledge and experience.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services
“It’s good to be here in the province, and it’s exciting to be a part of implementing regulated midwifery services. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this initiative. Midwives provide primary care and make important contributions to collaborative maternity care. I am pleased to help make this service available to women and families in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Gisela Becker
Provincial Midwifery Consultant
- 30-
Learn More
Provincial Government Announces New Regulations for Midwifery in Newfoundland and Labrador www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2016/health/0428n03.aspx
Newfoundland and Labrador Reaches Midwifery Milestone www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2017/health/0516n01.aspx
Newfoundland and Labrador Council of Health Professionals www.nlchp.ca/
Association of Midwives of Newfoundland and Labrador www.amnl.ca/
College of Midwives of Newfoundland and Labrador www.cmnl.ca/
Follow us on Twitter: @GovNL
and @HCS_GovNL
Media contact
Emily Timmins
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986, 693-1292
EmilyTimmins@gov.nl.ca
BACKGROUNDER
Biography of Ms. Gisela Becker
Gisela Becker completed her principal midwifery education in Germany in 1986. She has since practiced midwifery in a variety of settings in Germany, the Caribbean and Canada. Ms. Becker moved to Canada permanently in 1995. She has practiced as a midwife in Nunavut, Alberta, Quebec and the Northwest Territories. She continues to practice today.
Ms. Becker is an instructor in Advances in Labour and Risk Management (ALARM) and Neonatal Resuscitation Provider (NRP). She also represents midwifery on the National NRP Steering Committee and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) ALARM Committee. She was President of the Canadian Association of Midwives from 2009 to 2010 and represented Canadian midwifery at the International Confederation of Midwives Council in 2008 in Glasgow, Scotland and 2011 in Durban, South Africa. She held the position of Alberta Health Services Director of Midwifery Services from 2013 to 2015 and Assistant Professor in the Midwifery Education Program at Mount Royal University in Calgary from 2015 to 2017.
Ms. Becker has extensive experience in rural and remote midwifery services and collaborative maternity care. Her research interests and projects include rural and remote midwifery care, maternity services for vulnerable populations and midwifery in Canada.
2017 09 26 11:00 a.m.