RADILIH KOE'/FORT GOOD HOPE - Relaxing lavender and refreshing lemon fill the air as Melinda Laboucan sets out her essential oils on the coffee table at Fort Good Hope's drop-in centre, preparing to welcome more than 10 teenagers, expectant mothers and elders to the community's weekly women's spa night.

Laboucan, a 32-year-old mother of three, is Fort Good Hope's prenatal program co-ordinator. Carrying forth an idea from her cousin, Kristen Tatchinron, Laboucan started last year bringing foot spas, clay masks and nail polish for manicures to the centre every Wednesday night from 7 to 10 p.m. to give mothers in the community some much-needed personal time.

"It really took off," Laboucan said.

What started as part of the prenatal program's regular offerings, sandwiched between baby blanket sewing Mondays and Friday cooking classes, has become the highlight of the week for women of all ages in the community of about 500.

Laboucan has expanded spa night to include massage therapy and inspirational guest speakers from the region, giving women an outlet of their own in a place recently plagued by a string of suspected arsons.

"As a mother, every day you go, go, go. You don't really get that time for yourself," she said.

"It may sound selfish, but you know what? We already do so much for our spouses and our family so we really need to take time for ourselves."

Gloria Manuel looks forward to going every week to relax and learn from the other women, who all know to leave stress and negative gossip at the door.

"It's really positive. We lift one another up," Manuel said.

"After I get what I need from my spa nights, I come back and I'm all relaxed and ready to go again. That way I'm not so stressed out. When I come home to my children, I look forward to doing something else with them."

Laboucan, who's been the prenatal program co-ordinator since September 2008, said she took the job because she wants to help Fort Good Hope families and learn from them, too.

"I kind of figured, 'I'm a mother and I might as well learn more about nutrition and those kinds of things,'" she said. "We're all here to learn."

Her other sessions tackle subjects such as healthy eating, postpartum depression and discipline for children, but Laboucan said spa night is by far the most popular among women.

It's so popular, in fact, that nearby communities Colville Lake and Deline are trying to start up their own versions.

"They really want to focus more on how to take care of themselves," Laboucan said of the women in her community.

"I can't say it totally transforms somebody in one night. It doesn't happen like that. It's their choice if they want to continue to come to spa nights every week and if they do, they learn more about how to take care of themselves in a positive way."