Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Jun 21/99) - Alicie Joamie's surroundings speak of fertility, so it comes as no surprise to learn that she's been practising midwifery for the last 50 years.

Seated among a house alive with plants and photos of her family -- not to mention the 11 dogs roaming around her Apex yard -- Joamie talked about her experiences as a midwife and about how birthing had changed for the worse over the last several decades.

News/North: How long have you been a midwife?

Alicie Joamie: Since I was 14 years old.

News/North: How did you learn?

Joamie: I learned by the baby coming out, it's breathing and the contractions.

News/North: Did you learn that by yourself or did your mother or another woman show you?

Joamie: We lived in a really small place and my mother had taught me, telling me that this is something I should know.

News/North: Where were you living at the time?

Joamie: Beside Pannirtuuq.

News/North: When did you start delivering babies by yourself?

Joamie: Maybe when I was 21 or 23 years old.

News/North: Did lots of women know how to deliver babies or were you one of the few midwives?

Joamie: At the time, there weren't any doctors. It wasn't just for specialized people. It was something that all people were expected to know. But not everybody wanted to learn how. Some people wanted to learn other skills.

News/North: How many babies have you delivered?

Joamie: I have delivered many, many babies near Pannirtuuq and here, in tents and in an iglu. I also used to assist the doctors in the hospital here.

News/North: Do you still assist at the hospital?

Joamie: One time I was approached to teach midwifery, but nothing really came of it and I wasn't approached again. Deliveries used to be a lot quicker and a lot smoother than when they were in the hospital.

News/North: How are deliveries different now?

Joamie: The difference between the deliveries now and then is that before, where I would look after somebody who was about to deliver, it had to be quiet and not people walking around and now, it's so busy. The pregnant woman would know exactly what she was supposed to do and the clothes were a lot more loose. The clothes that are worn now are too tight. I let the pregnant woman know about nutrition and made sure she was eating properly and I made sure she was keeping herself warm so she would keep the baby warm.

A pregnant woman, after so many months, her husband was not allowed to be loud to her or yell at her or knock things around the house because the baby senses things before it's born.

The thing now is that babies are adopted out freely and there will be abuse towards the woman while she is pregnant and the baby senses all of that. Their deliveries may be longer because the baby doesn't want to come out. If the husband is warm and caressing towards the woman, the baby will feel it and will be easier to deliver. Pregnant woman now sleep too much, they don't eat enough, they don't look after what they eat enough. Before, it was important for a pregnant woman to be active and as soon as she wakes up, to get outside and be outside.

News/North: Have those changes come about because the midwives aren't used anymore and the doctors took it over?

Joamie: So many things are different now and have changed. Doctors look after deliveries and now pregnant women while they're waiting for the birth, they just lie there for far too long and they get too many visitors. Traditionally women didn't take medication.

News/North: Do you think doctors interfere too much now in the deliveries? Did you ever have to use anything like forceps or do a caesarian section?

Joamie: Before, all we really needed was a big, comfortable bed for the woman and for her knees and her feet to be positioned properly and not really pay so much attention to her genital area. There are other things to look at. The baby doesn't want to be prodded at, but naturally let out. The way it was done before, when the water broke, they would just let the baby come out. Now, they give over-care instead of letting it go naturally.

News/North: Did women give birth laying down or squatting?

Joamie: Lying down (and Alicie demonstrates by lying on her side and shows how a woman's knees and feet were kept propped open with a pillow). Women now, some of them are even made to walk around. It shouldn't be like that. The doctors start telling the woman to push way too late. Before, it would be a lot sooner.

News/North: If the baby got stuck before and wasn't moving, how would you get labour to start again?

Joamie: It would depend on what was happening. If the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby, they would go inside and check and see if and unwrap it.

News/North: What did you do with the afterbirth?

Joamie: We didn't do anything with the afterbirth.

News/North: I've heard other midwives say that by eating some of the placenta, it could stop women from haemorrhaging after giving birth. Did you ever do things like that?

Joamie: No. Where did you hear that?

News/North: From a midwife in Ontario.

Joamie: There was a time when a baby was stillborn and it was blue and dead and the doctors said there was nothing they could do. I did something my mother taught me and that was to put the afterbirth up to where the mother's heart was and after I did that, the baby started to move. I was interviewed by the college about that and they wrote something about that.

News/North: Did many women or babies die during childbirth?

Joamie: It rarely happened. There were a few cases where women died of hemorrhaging or else the baby died.

News/North: The hospital board is looking at allowing women who are going to have low-risk births to have their babies in their communities instead of everyone coming to the hospital here. Do you think that's a good idea?

Joamie: I've been thinking about that for a long time. The woman is pregnant. It's not like there's anything wrong with her. It's natural. I've been wanting midwives to get some training and take over. All of these things have to be fixed. There's nothing wrong with the woman. She's fine. She's just pregnant and she gets brought all the way down here, she leaves her family and her husband. It's not fun for the woman. It can cause social problems where the husband will come and go to the bars. These things have to be looked after.

News/North: Do you miss being a midwife and delivering babies?

Joamie: Yes, but I'm still very involved and I still get asked to be a midwife and I teach a lot of young girls when they come over and visit. There was a time that I had a trainee up at the hospital, but the girl I was working with went on to other education.

News/North: So you have managed to pass your skills on to other women?

Joamie: I haven't done it here in Iqaluit, but I did teach my younger sisters at home. I enjoyed it.

I really enjoy my midwifery and I'm glad you asked me these questions because more people have to learn that this is a part of our tradition. My mother very much wanted me to be a proper lady and to know all the things about sewing and having plants and being a midwife. It was at my mother's insistence that I knew all these things. My mother told me to always have a dog because dogs really like your company and when you're having negative thoughts and your dog is there, it helps. Now I have 11 dogs.