Kamloops parent worries prenatal care now a long drive away

Living in a city like Kamloops, B.C., Jenny Jones never imagined she might have to leave town to get care during her pregnancy.

But without a midwife as of next week, she will have limited options for the remainder of her prenatal care.

Currently, expectant parents in the city are able to access early-stage care through the First Steps Early Pregnancy Triage Clinic — but after 20 weeks, their doctor or midwife refers them to the Thompson Region Family Obstetrics (TRFO) Group.

TRFO, located within Royal Inland Hospital (RIH), is the primary provider of birthing services in Kamloops, whose team consists of doctors, medical residents and midwives. The clinic supports on average about 600-700 deliveries per year from across the Thompson region, according to Interior Health numbers from June 2023. 

But it's now set a monthly cap on the number of babies its team can deliver, following previous concerns over workload and subsequent changes that aimed to ease those pressures. 

Interior Health has confirmed that some patients with low-risk pregnancies have been declined prenatal care with TRFO.

Jones is nearly 19 weeks into her pregnancy, but she's not confident her referral will be accepted as her midwife hands off care for the remainder of her pregnancy.

"Basically, they'll recommend me to the maternity clinic here, but the likelihood of me being accepted is very, very small," said Jones, who is expecting her first child in July.

Some health-care providers are now telling people like Jones they may have to travel up to two hours to communities in the Shuswap and Okanagan to get care, or go to the RIH emergency department.

While a number of smaller rural communities in B.C. struggle with maternal care, Kamloops is a regional hub with a population of more than 100,000, that also serves the medical needs of more than a dozen communities in the Chilcotin, Cariboo, Nicola Valley, North Thompson and North Shuswap regions. 

But Jones says she's been told by her current midwife that if she's not directly connected to a maternity clinic, there is little certainty about what care options will be available for her in the city. 

"You would just have to wait in emergency for however long it would take," she said, adding that even getting treatment there would depend on whether there is a doctor on call who deals in maternity care.

"You still might be turned away to go to Salmon Arm, Vernon or Kelowna."

Interior Health has told people who are not patients of TRFO that they should first try go to the Kamloops emergency department or the maternity ward, depending on how far along they are in their pregnancy.