Students lose financial lifeline as demand for services grows,

When she was 11 years old, Cello Mizumoto cut her half-brother’s umbilical cord in her Vancouver home. His birth became a memorable “family event” facilitated by a midwife — and a moment Mizumoto knew she wanted to spend her life creating for others.

Mizumoto, 24, already had an arts and science undergraduate degree when she decided to apply to Ryerson’s midwifery program — one of six across the country, three of which are based in Ontario. Getting into the program is harder than getting into medicine, she says. Only 25 to 30 students are accepted per program, which sees up to 300 applicants annually.

It’s expensive too: the four-year program, more than half of which includes full-time, on-call clinical placements, can cost more than $100,000.

This includes tuition and examination fees, equipment, a car to get to appointments, parking, frequent relocation costs (depending which clinic they find placement in and where their client is) and rent.

But Mizumoto’s dream is in danger — the only professional line of credit specifically available to midwifery students was offered by RBC since 2013, but, as of spring 2017, it was no longer eligible for them — even though midwifery has been a regulated health profession covered by OHIP since1994. No other allied health-care professions have been affected.

In an email to the Star, RBC spokesperson AJ Goodman said midwifery has not been defunded, but “the change was made to ensure that students take on manageable levels of debt and have the support they need to manage that debt.”

Goodman wrote the post-graduation grace period had been extended from one to two years so students can establish themselves in their professional careers before repaying any loans. “We will continue to work with students to find the solutions that are right for them,” he wrote.

RBC’s line of credit is an important factor for most, if not all, midwifery students, including Mizumoto. Without it, many are thinking about dropping out of the program.

In response, students across Ontario and at the University of British Columbia are launching a national online awareness campaign on March 19 to highlight just how underfunded Canadian midwifery student programs are.

Mizumoto and her friends consider RBC’s decision “gender-based funding discrimination” against a profession that is made up overwhelmingly of women and non-gender conforming people, and who exclusively serve women and trans-identifying clients.

“Being a midwife is a political act, a radical act at a time when birth and pregnancy have become highly politicized,” said Monique Dupuy, an organizer of the campaign along with Mizumoto. A single mom, Dupuy, 37, relocated to Toronto from Nova Scotia. She calls midwifery her calling, one that she heard after realizing she had no real support during her son’s birth.

RBC’s line of credit was a major factor in making the move across the country and going back to school — she went to apply for it the day after midwifery was removed from the list of eligible health professions.

“Midwifery is not understood as a profession,” Dupuy said. “So when we lose the only funding we have, it will shrink the profession.”

That’s a problem because the demand for midwives is on the rise. There are 800 registered midwives in Ontario who deliver 15 per cent of the babies born in Ontario. And, although midwives are only credited with 6 per cent of deliveries, they care for 12 to 14 per cent of pregnant women and are turning away clients because they can’t meet the demand, according to the Association of Ontario Midwives. The difference reflects women whose care was transferred to an obstetrician.

“There are still lingering myths and misconceptions about midwifery,” said Elizabeth Brandeis, president of the Association of Ontario Midwives. “I hope this campaign does bring attention and awareness and lead RBC to reconsider their decision, and other financial institutions to step up.”

A Scotiabank spokesperson said they offer a personal line of credit for students, which is not specific to midwifery but can be used by them if they are successful in their application process. The maximum limit for an undergraduate program like midwifery, however, is up to approximately $40,000.

A representative for the TorontoDominion bank had a similar response, stating they have student lines of credit for Bachelor of Health Sciences programs, which sometimes can include midwifery programs, pending on the approval of their application.

Linnea Rudachyk, another organizer of the campaign, remains skeptical. There are a lot of mature students in the program, said the 33-year-old, who moved to Toronto from Whitehorse to join Ryerson’s midwifery program. Many are not eligible for a lot of scholarships upon entry and have student debt from prior degrees.

Nicole Bennett, director of Ryerson’s midwifery program, says students who were counting on RBC’s line of credit were caught off-guard. “We’ve had students tell us they want to slow down in the program, perhaps take a year off in order to try and figure out how to complete this program,” she said.

“It seems really unfortunate to me that students we’ve accepted into this very competitive program, who have chosen a profession that is really a giving profession, are having to delay their studies and their graduation because of a lack of access to funding to support them.”