(905) 561-0738
Front line workers can access mobile, on call prenatal care for pregnant clients with no health care provider by paging the Shelter Health Network midwife at (905) 561-0738.
About Us
The Shelter Health Network Maternity Care Team (SHN MCT) was formed in November 2013 to decrease barriers to prenatal care for women in Hamilton accessing the shelter system. The SHN MCT is comprised of 8 local midwives and a physician. This exciting collaboration allows the SHN to provide 24/7 on-call, mobile prenatal and post-partum care to women in the community who are eligible for SHN services.
Midwives are primary maternity care providers with access to all routine pregnancy investigations, including blood work and ultrasounds. They will work in collaboration with Dr Erica Roebbelen to provide the complex medical care often needed by SHN clients.
Lisa Nussey is a local midwife who is part of an innovative program that sees midwives go out to meet vulnerable women wherever they are — park benches, shelters, wherever.
John Rennison
The Hamilton Spectator
2017-05-11
How it Works
Front line workers and service organizations can arrange for a pregnant or post-partum woman to be seen by a midwife by paging the SHN midwife on-call at 905-561-0738. Ask for “the Shelter Health Midwife”. The operator will ask you for your name and phone number which will be sent to the midwife on-call. Please ask specifically for the SHN midwife on-call, and not for any midwife by name, as the system is only designed to access the assigned on-call midwife this way. The SHN midwife will respond to the page within 10 minutes and arrange to see the woman usually within an hour at the location of her choosing. At the client’s request, we can also come by appointment at a later date and time.
The midwife carries with her all of the required equipment and paperwork to do a basic prenatal visit. Follow up for more complex medical issues will be arranged with community and hospital services as needed and as the woman is willing. Once seen by the SHN midwife, women will be encouraged to access the conventional stream of maternity care in the city, either midwifery, family medicine or obstetrics. If she is unable or unwilling to do this, the SHN MCT will offer to see her on an ad hoc basis. If care is continued to be provided by the SHN MCT in the community, she will be cared for by on-call obstetric services when she presents in hospital; prenatal records and investigations will be provided to the hospital by the SHN maternity care team.
Contact Us
To page the SHN Midwife call (905) 561-0738. Please note this is for routine clinical care only. For medical emergencies call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room or labour and delivery unit. For administrative or general questions, to arrange an in-service or give feedback on the program please contact the SHN MCT coordinator, Chelsea Futers to this email: mct@shelterhealthnetwork.ca.