While good prenatal care will identify or eliminate most complications during the pregnancy, there is always a possibility that a complication may arise during labor. For this reason, midwives are trained in handling emergency situations. Sometimes transfer is appropriate. If it should arise, the midwife accompanies the client and her family prenatally or in labor to the hospital to provide support and facilitate a smooth transfer of care.
The vast majority (98%) of transports in labor are for non-emergency reasons and transfer is done by private car to the hospital. In the case of a true emergency, transfer might be by ambulance to the nearest hospital with an obstetrical unit. An emergency care plan is completed by the 36th week of pregnancy to outline the plan for each client.