Access to Prenatal Care in Dartmouth - Member Statement

I rise today to bring the House’s attention to a troubling and gendered consequence of the doctor shortage in Nova Scotia.

In my community of Dartmouth South, not all pregnant people are currently able to access essential prenatal care. One constituent, lucky to become pregnant after difficulties but unaware that her doctor had recently been suspended by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, unexpectedly found herself without a family doctor and with a complicated pregnancy. She has since spent weeks navigating emergency rooms and walk-in clinics, trying and failing to obtain a needed prenatal appointment, while unable to access test results during a crucial time in her pregnancy.

Her experience with the system has been frustrating, confusing, and opaque. This is unacceptable. No pregnant person in Nova Scotia should have to go through the stress of wondering whether they will be able to access the care required to carry a pregnancy to term.