STONIER-NEWMAN – If men gave birth, OB-GYN issue would be solved by now

By LYNNE STONIER-NEWMAN,
Guest columnist

IF MEN GAVE BIRTH, this would be fixed already!

Those were the words on one big sign during the Maternity Matters Kamloops rally last Saturday. A young woman waved it at the motorists passing the rally at Third & Columbia as they honked their support. Hundreds of us had gathered to show support for the seven OB/GYN doctors resigning from Royal Inland Hospital’s Maternity Services — and to demand the RIH administrators and Board of Directors find and negotiate a solution.

Many women and some fathers with newborns, babies and children, a number of very pregnant women — some with a worried man or future grandmother at her side, and many concerned folks of many ages were  at Third & Columbia. We filled the sidewalk and grass area between RIH and the driveway to St. Anne’s… and talked to each other about this crisis.

Seven maternity doctors leaving RIH will create massive problems.

‘What can we do about it?’ people asked as we gave thumbs up to those waving  creative signs — though the one asking ‘If men gave birth …’ probably generated the most discussion. I’d sat on my walker beside a couple with their tiny new born baby and repeated that provocative sign aloud: “If men gave birth, this would be fixed already!” And speculated about whether that was correct.

“Why? Do you think men would receive better respect and services than women, if it was them who gave birth?”

“Yes, ” I replied, “because wouldn’t a man demand he and his newborn be valued and celebrated? Men would do it in a different way than how woman can within our society. He and his buddies would probably tout that child’s worth… some might even point out, ‘I’ve produced Canada’s Number One Commodity.’”

He would be correct. Babies do ensure our country’s well-being, provide the employees and taxpayers of tomorrow. Yet as Canada’s current birth rate of 1.25 demonstrates, we do not have enough children being born in Canada to even  replace  ourselves. And as guys aren’t going to be having the babies, we need to ensure the women birthing Canada’s Number One Commodity have to be given top priority within B.C. health services and by our health administrators.

Women’s pre-natal, birthing and post-natal time has to be supported and given ongoing maternity care by the highly-trained doctors — preferably the doctor who has guided a woman through her prenatal months. The crowd of us were at the Maternity Matters Kamloops rally because we fear that will stop happening in Kamloops.

The seven OB/GYN doctors who deliver the babies at Royal Inland Hospital have served notice they are resigning.

Their caring letter of resignation details how they are being dangerously overworked and that within the current administrative organization of maternity services, they are no longer able to function safely. And… although the issue of not being fairly compensated for their services as compared to other specialties is/was also on the negotiating table, these seven doctors are resigning because their personal physical and mental well-being is being pushed beyond safe limits; they cannot continue under their current conditions.

Ominous for all the pregnant women in Kamloops and region, isn’t it?

Do you know it’s BC Health, Interior Health and RIH’s medical administrators who determine what OB/Gyn specialists duties are, and how those duties are to be fulfilled?

Each of these seven doctors are resigning because each one has been part of situations that demonstrated it is no longer safe to patients to follow those orders. Each of these doctors are established in Kamloops and did not want to resign from RIH. But as they feel patients are being put at risk and they are personally burned-out by unfeasible workloads, what other option is there but to resign?

The administrators can — and must — resolve these problems and reorganize. If they don’t, Kamloops’ maternity services will soon be operating in crisis mode. As well, those doctors’ resignations also jeopardize women’s health services here in our city and for its rural regions. And another serious issue is if administrators cannot re-negotiate and keep those seven OB/GYN doctors supplying their services at Royal Inland Hospital, they are creating negative history for RIH, currently and for many future years.

Why would any doctor now choose to come to Kamloops? Those who have been considering whether Kamloops is where she or he — and family — would like to live, and RIH as where he or she wants to work will now be choosing other options. Seven maternity doctors resigning is like a big red flag.

The media statements I’ve read from individual senior administrators do not acknowledge those facts. IH, RIH administrators and boards of directors consider paying outrageous rates to locums — who don’t even know the pregnant mothers they will be delivering — a solution. It is not. Nor is paying thousands of dollars to transfer delivering mothers to other hospitals. And some mothers having reportedly had meds to slow delivery down while being transferred to another hospital is not a moral option.

Those administrators giving the many media interviews also didn’t discuss another issue: pregnancies are time-sensitive. A baby arrives on his or her schedule and the birthing mother cannot be trying to find a hospital to accommodate the birthing process. Some of our pregnant women are experiencing physical and mental health problems and stresses caused by RIH’s failing maternity system. If you were — pretend, please, guys — mid-term in your pregnancy, wouldn’t you be feeling frantic?

The signs at the Maternity Matters Kamloops rally highlighted some of the consequences of those seven maternity doctors’ resigning. Women who want more than one baby are deciding ‘best not to risk having another child.’ Women who were planning to conceive are rethinking, wondering ‘is that wise in these unknown circumstances.’

Nor are we training nearly enough doctors for B.C.’s current population of  5.5 million. British Columbia has two medical schools: the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine and the new Simon Fraser University (SFU) School of Medicine. UBC’s program is distributed across multiple regional campuses, while SFU’s new school is focused on training family doctors in a three-year curriculum. At UBC in 2021, the acceptance rate was 11.3%, admitting 288 out of 2,558 applicants. This compares to the overall acceptance rate for medical schools in Canada of about 18% (AI-generated stats) How can those numbers begin to fill B.C.’s need for doctors?   And why aren’t we training more?

In 2020/21, Interior Health operated 16 community hospitals, four regional hospitals, two tertiary hospitals (RIH being one) and 22 health care centers. IH serves a population of over 313,000 and covers an area over 20,000 square kilometers with four major urban centers: Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton. IH had a budget of $2.6 billion  and 21,000 employees, 1,900 IH physicians and 4,800 volunteers. (AI-generated info)

Yes, there are many responsibilities and problems for the IH administrators and the government-appointed boards of directors. Though top administrators have commented in media reports that the situation of the seven obstetrician gynecologists doctors resigning and leaving RIH is ‘disappointing – and they’re working on it,’ is that adequate?

“No! Kamloops residents, we best holler louder. And soon.”

My concern is those same senior IH administrators have so many doctors leaving in various specialties in various centres, like the four psychiatrists in Vernon. Will they prioritize resolving Royal Inland’s OB/GYN doctors’ needs?’ Negotiating now to keep our city’s seven obstetrician gynecologists here is critical.

Our babies do have the right to be born in our Royal Inland Hospital’s  fine maternity wards.

Lynne Stonier-Newman is a resident of Kamloops. She’s a social marketing and communication consultant, and a B.C. historian and author.