Founder of Welcome Baby Co., Jenn Goodwin says the core mission of her company is to prepare families for childbirth and the experience they face afterwards.
"With this free workshop they can learn about managing early labour and getting into good rhythms before they move into the hospital. They're going to learn about comfort measures, tools and techniques they can use during labour, as well as what they may experience throughout the hospital process." The vast majority of epidurals are used during labour and delivery for pain management and high-risk births. "Given this international shortage, AHS is considering safe alterations of practice to ensure patients receive an appropriate alternative and will support the continued availability of supply where no clinically appropriate alternative can be used," read the statement.
Lucie Filteau is the vice president of CAS and an anesthesiologist at the Ottawa Hospital who says there needs to be better communication from manufacturers as Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. all face epidural shortages. Filteau added that supply chain uncertainty is also worrisome for frontline workers as they hope to provide the highest possible level of care for their patients.
"We would get occasional things on backorder prior to COVID but not to this extent in the last couple of years now for equipment and for medication, we’ve been encountering many supply-chain issues." Cayla Caufield is a childbirth educator and a doula that says the vast majority of pregnancies she deals with in the delivery room use an epidural to mitigate pain."I am really concerned about the trauma this might cause for families," she said.