Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 16/01) - Community-based prenatal programs, designed to improve birth outcomes, got a $230,000 boost from the federal government Wednesday.

The funding will enhance 28 existing prenatal services, managed by non-governmental organizations, in 25 communities across the NWT.

The GNWT will also hire two nutritionists with the money. One will work out of Inuvik. The other will work in Yellowknife, but provide support throughout the NWT.

NWT prenatal programs target women at risk of having unhealthy babies and are part of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, a national initiative launched in 1994.

Including the money announced today, the NWT receives about $932,000 each year towards CPNP programs. Western Arctic MLA Ethel Blondin-Andrew said the additional funding is part of the government's emphasis on early intervention. "Prevention is huge and we need to focus on it," she said.

The 28 programs across the NWT promote breast-feeding and provide women with food supplementation, nutritional counselling, support, and information about the effects of substance abuse on babies.

CPNP nutritionist Jill Christensen assists with 18 prenatal programs across the NWT. Christensen teaches basic nutrition and gives women the skills to teach cooking sessions in their own communities.

"It's an assumption that everyone knows how to cook, but it's not true," she said.

She said high food costs and a limited range of available foods also make cooking a challenge in the North. But the programs teach women how to substitute foods.

Christensen believes prenatal programs reach the majority of pregnant woman in the 25 communities. And these women, in turn, pass on information to their friends and family.

Bernadette Rabesca-Apples works in the prenatal program in Rae Lakes. She is in Yellowknife this week learning to plan and run cooking sessions in her community.

"I live in an isolated area where many women feed their families with just wild meat," she said. "People get really excited about the vegetables."