THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - No one needed to hear the speeches at a recent celebration of midwifery in Fort Smith to realize its success over the years.

Dozens of laughing and playing youngsters running from toy to toy on one side of the Recreation Centre gym were testimony to that success, and they virtually drowned out serious comments by adults about what midwifery has meant to the community.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington quipped it was harder to talk at the celebration than in Parliament.

"But it's a good noise," he said of the children.

The Nov. 6 event was organized by a group of mothers who have been helped by Fort Smith's midwifery program.

In particular, they wanted to thank the two midwives - Lesley Paulette and Gisela Becker - who developed the maternity program at the Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority.

It has been five years since the NWT adopted midwifery legislation and an official program was established at the Fort Smith Health Centre.

That change meant more and more women are deciding to have their babies in Fort Smith instead of Yellowknife or larger centres in the south.

Paulette has actually been offering private midwifery services and sometimes overseeing home births in Fort Smith since 1993.

She praised the women of the community who "pushed and pushed and pushed" for an official program.

"I think now that it's here there's no turning back," she said.

Becker joined Paulette as a midwife in Fort Smith in 2000.

She said giving birth in Fort Smith became more acceptable to many women once the midwifery service moved into the health centre.

"People are maybe more prepared to birth at the health centre, but not at home," she said. "People felt it was a safer option or maybe a better option for them to birth at the health centre."

Paulette and Becker offer prenatal and postnatal care, and their expertise in birthing has given Fort Smith women with low-risk pregnancies the option of staying in the community to give birth.

Out of the more than 200 babies born to Fort Smith families over the last five years, more than 100 have been safely born in the community. The arrival of the 100th baby was celebrated in August.

"It's amazing how far this has come," said Jessica Cox, a mother of two and one of the organizers of the Nov. 6 celebration. "I really believe this community is healthier for it."

In the midwifery program's first year of operation, two-thirds of women chose to use the new service and only 30 per cent gave birth in the community. By 2010, virtually all pregnant women in Fort Smith are choosing midwifery care, and almost half of them are giving birth in the community instead of going elsewhere.

"The quality of the care that Lesley and Gisela provide is outstanding," said Cox. "I talk all the time with other moms in Smith, and all say how lucky we feel to have the midwives."

Laura Aubrey, another mother and celebration organizer, recalled how she first met the midwives in 2002, when she was having her first child and they were still operating in a private practice in the absence of NWT legislation.

"To this day, I am still in awe of these two amazing women and their passion and convictions," Aubrey said.

She noted the legislation was led by a grassroots movement in Fort Smith which gave women the power of choice.

Another mother, Valerie Grenier, said one of her children was born in Fort Smith under a midwife's care.

"To be able to come back and actually have my midwife deliver my baby was great," she said.

A young father, Aaron Kikoak, said the midwifery program means a lot to Fort Smith.

"It gives confidence in staying in the community for one," he said. "I think it's a great service."

Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger was the minister of Health and Social Services when midwifery legislation was created in the NWT.

"The reason the Northwest Territories has midwifery services as an insured service today is because of the very strong women in Fort Smith, two of the best midwives in the business, a supportive health board, and, of course, a minister that was prepared to push it," he said.

Miltenberger added the Fort Smith midwifery program can be a model for other communities.

Becker, who is soon to wrap up two years as president of the Canadian Association of Midwives, also believes it could be a model for other communities.

She noted there are more than 1,000 midwives in Canada and every year 100 more join the profession.

"So I think the midwives are out there," she said. "I think that what really needs to happen is that the communities need to identify this as a priority and an interest."

Bevington said midwifery is important to Fort Smith.

"The care and attention that young women get in having children is tremendous. That only bodes well for the future," the MP said. "Children getting a good start in life is so important."

Bevington noted there is nothing like the Fort Smith midwifery program anywhere in the NWT.

Aside from Fort Smith, babies are born in health-care facilities in Yellowknife and Inuvik. The only other midwife in the NWT is located in Yellowknife.

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