With so many things to juggle while on call, she says it puts everyone at risk.
“We are trying to sort that out. They still have to cover sometimes but we are doing the best we can with the few people we do have, so it’s still something we are working out,” Low said, adding: “The prenatal clinic is working well but it’s absolutely not perfect.”AHS has been working hard to recruit ob-gyns and retain them, but in the meantime, other measures have been put in place to help ensure care for pregnant people.
She is one of a number of doctors from the community helping run the prenatal clinic for patients who have been referred or don’t have a family doctor. “We didn’t have budget for this,” Low said. “It was created because it was necessary, but long-term, we expect that it will be part of our solution. What exact shape that takes, we don’t know, but it’s going to stay.”
Currently only emergent gynecology patients are being seen, with others being referred outside Lethbridge.