Birth Centre
In early 2016, the Birth centre moved to brand new facilities located at 76 Gatineau Avenue. A team of 12 midwives welcome clients in a modern and friendly environment boasting 5 spacious rooms, each fitted with a therapeutic bath and cutting edge equipment.
Midwives provide support focused on the future mother’s choices and interests. In this approach, pregnancy and birth are viewed as normal physiological processes. Midwives provide care services to healthy mothers who choose to give birth at the birth centre, at home, or in the hospital. The services are fully covered if you have a Quebec health insurance (RAMQ) card.
As professionals, midwives are fully qualified to monitor you before, during and after delivery. They perform necessary clinical examinations, and can order sonograms, prenatal screening tests and various laboratory tests. They are part of a multidisciplinary team made up of Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSS de l’Outaouais) professionals.
Contact us
Tel. : 819-966-6585
Fax : 819-966-6586
07_cissso_MDN@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
76 Gatineau Avenue
Gatineau QC J8T 4J4
Online Registration
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For more information
History of the Birth Centre
In 1994, the Maison de naissance de l’Outaouais (MDNO) was the first birth centre to open in Quebec as part of pilot projects, with a team which at the time consisted of 4 midwives, a midwifery services manager and an administrative officer. Until the winter of 2016, the Birth centre was operating out of a former presbytery attached to St-Jean-Marie-Vianney Cathedral, on Jean-René-Monette street in Gatineau.
Philosophy of the Birth Centre
Our goal at the Birth centre is to provide you not only with a place where you can get prenatal monitoring and give birth, but also with a warm, family-friendly and safe place where you can relax and share your pregnancy and breastfeeding experience with other families, as well as what it has meant for you to become a parent.
The practice of midwifery is based on respect for pregnancy and birth as normal physiological processes that have deep meaning in your life. Midwives recognize that delivery and birth are moments that belong to you. The health professionals present are responsible for giving you the respect and support you need to deliver your baby yourself, safely and with dignity.
Midwifery is practised within the context of a personal and egalitarian relationship which takes into account your social, cultural and emotional needs, as well as your physical needs. This relationship is built on continuing care and services during pregnancy, during birth and in the postnatal period.
Midwives encourage you to choose the care and services you will receive, as well as how they are delivered. They respect your right to choose your health professional and where you want to give birth, in accordance with OSFQ standards of practice. Midwives will therefore help you choose a birthplace, including your home.
Promoting health is essential in the maternity cycle, which is why midwives base their practice on prevention and on the wise use of technology. Midwives consider the interests of the mother and of the unborn baby to be closely related and compatible. They believe that the best way to ensure the mother and her baby’s well-being is to focus their care on the mother, rather than on the baby.
Midwives encourage support for families and the community as the best approach for helping new families adapt to their situation.