INFORMED CHOICES

In the short term, NBSC continues to support the grassroots efforts of midwives across Canada as they actively attend vaginal breech births, form breech birth coalitions and work with regulatory colleges and provincial and territorial healthcare organizations to formalize clinical care frameworks for integrating vaginal breech birth under midwifery primary care within institutional settings. 

NBSC’s long term goals include the creation of clinical practice guidelines for upright, physiologic vaginal breech birth, a national research database for the tracking of midwifery attended breech birth outcomes, the provision of comprehensive breech education and hands-on training workshops, parental education and counselling and providing support for institutions across Canada to obtain NBSC’s Breech Friendly Hospital designation.

As midwifery scope and acceptance of midwifery-led vaginal breech birth has varied within different Canadian jurisdictions, midwives have adapted and developed diverse approaches and strategies to navigate systemic and interprofessional barriers while ensuring safe access to vaginal breech birth for birthing families. The NBSC Breech Friendly Hospital (BFH) initiative offers supportive, integrative strategies that promote access to vaginal breech birth for clients, enhance interprofessional relationships and encourage trust between healthcare providers through the creation of designated vaginal breech birth teams, in-person skill development, mentorship and non-hierarchical collaboration.