Hay River hires first midwife
Health services director says they're interviewing for a second slot and plan to get to work in September
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, March 31, 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The first midwife for Hay River's new midwifery program has been hired and is scheduled to begin work in the community this fall, says the territory's director of territorial health services.
"They have hired a midwife to begin in September," Donna Allen said.
Allen said staff have also identified another potential candidate.
"I think next week they're interviewing another midwife in Hay River, depending on how that goes they may be staffed fully by September," she said.
The two midwives will begin offering prenatal care and setting up policy guidelines during the program's first few months, Allen said. They could start delivering babies in early 2015.
"It will probably be January of 2015 for actual birthing services to begin. That's a goal, it could happen sooner, it may happen a little bit later," Allen said. "I think as we get midwifery staff into the community, we'll be in a better position to actually forecast that."
Allen said facilitating live births will also require the help of nurses and other medical staff.
"We need to be sure that nursing staff also have training and education because there has been no birthing services in the community for years," she said. "So it's more than just having the midwives there, they need the support of other staff."
The program will be housed in the current health centre, which has been renovated to accommodate the program, and will move to the new hospital when the building is completed in 2016.
This year's territorial budget included designating $500,000 for the program's expansion.
Allen said the department is also looking at ways to establish the program in the Beaufort Delta.
Meetings are expected to take place in May or June, Allen said.
"We've started our internal discussions in the department about getting out to do some consultation with both the staff at the Beaufort Delta Health and Social Services Authority and the public in the Beaufort Delta," she said. "That will happen later on this spring."
Johanna Tiemessen is a midwifery advocate and started working as a certified doula in Yellowknife six years ago.
She said she knows first hand how important it is for mothers to feel as comfortable and supported as possible during childbirth.
"The whole premise behind having these supports that you're familiar with is so when you're in that stressful environment, you already feel safe to let go and to birth the way that you should birth naturally," she said. "By producing a calm and confident environment, women birth better."
Tiemessen said having to leave home to give birth puts stress on entire families. She said her clients include women from outside the city, some of whom have already spent weeks away from home waiting for their due dates. She said the situation is especially hard for women who end up being overdue.
"That could be a month that they're away from their family and their community and their supports," she said.
Tiemessen said while having a midwife is not for everyone and some women may choose to have babies in hospitals, she would like to see women in the NWT given the choice.
Dr. Nicole Redvers is a naturopathic physician working out of the Gaia Integrative Clinic in Yellowknife. She said she and nine other service providers, including other naturopathic physicians, massage therapists and chiropractors, share the costs of running the clinic.
Redvers said she informally suggested the possibility of offering a midwife space in the building to the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority. She said midwives in the clinic would operate the way they do in the south, on a fee for service basis. That means the midwives would bill the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority and the service would remain free for clients. Ideally, the clinic could support two midwives to allow them to share responsibilities.
Redvers said if it were approved, the service would provide women with midwifery services while the government implemented its own plan for midwifery in Yellowknife.
But Allen said the territory's Medical Care Act doesn't allow for fee for service midwives.
"Fee for service is actually established under the medical care act, so it's legislated, and is only for physicians," she said. "So the department can't consider having fee for service midwives because it's not available under the Medical Care Act and would require legislative amendment."
Allen said with the exception of a few physicians, the territories' doctors and nurses are employed under a contract of employment model, which is how the department plans to implement midwifery services as well.
"It allows them to be a part of an integrated team of providers that are all working within the system to provide care to NWT residents," she said. "So, philosophically, we're not really interested
in establishing any other fee for service practitioners in the NWT."
Tiemessen said she and others will continue to push to expand midwifery services in the territory.
"We were advocating before for the choice and now that it's on its way, we just need to keep that momentum," she said.
