Providing Inclusive Midwifery Care for 2SLGBTQQIA+ People: Supporting Inclusion in Ontario's Midwifery Education Program

Abstract

IntroductionResearch on how midwives in North America are trained to provide inclusive care to Two Spirited, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, or Asexual (2SLGBTQQIA+) clients is limited. The objective of this study was to define 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusive midwifery care in the Canadian context and to explore the experiences of graduates of Ontario's Midwifery Education Program (MEP) to determine how midwives are trained to provide inclusive care.MethodsEthics approval was obtained for this qualitative study to perform semistructured interviews with graduates from the MEP hosted by McMaster, Toronto Metropolitan, and Laurentian University. Eleven midwives were recruited and were required to be (1) graduates of Ontario's MEP, (2) registered midwives under the College of Midwives of Ontario or elsewhere, (3) currently practicing or on leave, and (4) self‐identified advocates for 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals.ResultsWhen defining 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusive care, midwives described the following principles: using inclusive language, changing the clinical environment, amending documents and websites, and tailoring care for each client. Participants recognized recent efforts by Ontario's MEP to provide 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusive education while highlighting the need to expand 2SLGBTQQIA+ content across all courses, practicing inclusive care during placement, and ensuring an inclusive environment in the program.DiscussionMidwives in this study helped conceptualize inclusive midwifery care for 2SLGBTQQIA+ clients and underlined remaining gaps in Ontario's MEP toward providing student midwives with this competency by graduation. This study helped to fill a gap in the literature on how Canadian midwives are trained to provide 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusive care and generated recommendations for Ontario's MEP to support prelicensure education that trains inclusive midwives. Having demonstrated gaps in how birth workers are trained to provide 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusive care, this study points to the need for other prelicensure health professional programs to evaluate their training and to support 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusive practice.