For many health care providers who worked through the 2003 SARS epidemic, especially in epicenters, like Toronto, the COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder of the many lessons health care providers learned at that time. Social distancing measures are the most effective way to “flatten the curve” and minimize the spread of the epidemic.
However, as a midwife working in Toronto for more than 20 years, I can also speak about another important lesson learned during SARS that is often forgotten or overlooked: the importance of home birth and the role of midwives during an epidemic.
