I never imagined my 4th pregnancy would be my first without a family doctor [Video]

This First Person article is the experience of Maggie Campbell, a wife and mom in P.E.I. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

I could hear her heart beat thanks to an at-home fetal doppler. Our three sons gathered around us on the couch and watched as Dad put the jelly on my belly. The sound of their little sister’s heart beat made them laugh. 

I should have been feeling joy in this precious moment, and I did, but that joy was overshadowed by worry. 

When we found out we were expecting our fourth baby, we were not immediately ecstatic. Instead, our thoughts were: “We don’t even have a doctor. Where do we go?”  

I called the office of the obstetrics doctor who cared for me during my previous pregnancy in 2022, hoping I could return to him. In P.E.I., patients generally see their family …