Ontario Connecting People to More Care from Midwives

Midwives can now prescribe and administer more medications, making it faster and easier for families to connect to care

The Ontario government is making it easier and more convenient for patients to connect to care by expanding the list of drugs that midwives can prescribe and administer for the first time since 2010. This expansion includes additional routine vaccinations, treatment for nausea, vomiting and acid reflux, labour management, birth control and management of labour pain in a hospital setting.

“Our government is continuing to ensure people have access to the care they need, when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By making changes to allow midwives to provide more care through additional treatments and more vaccines, we are connecting more people to convenient care, while reducing the need for referrals to other providers.”

The province has made changes that reflect the training and expertise of Ontario’s highly skilled midwives by allowing them to:

• Administer routine vaccinations for:
  • COVID-19
  • Flu
  • RSV
  • Tetanus
  • Diphtheria
  • Pertussis
  • Rotavirus
  • Chickenpox
• Prescribe:
  • antibacterials such as azithromycin and cefixime
  • additional antifungal treatments
  • antivirals to prevent herpes transmission to the newborn
  • oral, injectable, intravaginal, intrauterine and transdermal contraceptives for post-partum patients
  • additional medications that help with nausea, heartburn and indigestion, vomiting, lactation treatments, inducing or augmenting labour and managing spontaneous early pregnancy loss
• Administer:
  • treatments for nausea, syphilis and gonorrhea
  • naloxone to reverse effects of opioids
• Prescribe and administer additional vitamins, minerals and fluid replacements
• Administer treatment for the management of labour pain in a hospital setting

As part of the Your Health plan, the Ontario government is making it easier for highly skilled, regulated health care professionals, including midwives, to work to the full extent of their training and expertise to better serve the needs of people in a connected and convenient manner.