SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Her midwife was the first person Renita Jenkins called when she found out she was pregnant, and now she is fighting to keep the service alive.

Renita Jenkins, left, stands with Heather Scott and nine-month-old Will at a protest outside the legislative assembly Monday. A group of more than 30 people were outside protesting the government's decision to suspend the midwifery program in Yellowknife. - Katherine Hudson/NNSL photo

Jenkins, along with more than 30 other supporters of the midwifery service, protested outside the legislative assembly Monday, expressing their confusion and distress after the program was suspended in Yellowknife May 6.

Jenkins said she was lucky to have used the midwifery service in Yellowknife in 2009 through the duration of her first pregnancy, as she stood among an array of children, strollers, mothers and fathers who congregated outside the legislative assembly as MLAs arrived for the afternoon session.

More than 300 people signed and delivered a petition in February calling on the government to expand the midwifery program. With the single registered midwife in Yellowknife no longer practicing, there are now only two left in the NWT, both of whom reside in Fort Smith.

Jenkins said the midwife in Yellowknife, Heather Redshaw, was on-call 24 hours a day for her patients.

Redshaw, who could not be reached for comment, saw 36 patients in 2009, according to the Department of Health and Social Services. The midwife position costs the GNWT about $116,000, including benefits, compensation, and other costs associated with the job.

"What the Minister (of Health and Social Services) fails to recognize is that these doctors here are booking sometimes two months in advance. What they've effectively done is removed yet another service provider from the system when there's already a shortage," said Jenkins.

She said there is a consistency in care when one has the same person available to them throughout the pregnancy.

The program was "temporarily" suspended in Yellowknife so the government could review and perform an expansion analysis to develop options for a territory-wide midwife program, according to a press release issued May 11.

But Health Minister Michael Miltenberger conceded Monday that costs were an issue.

He said the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority conducted an assessment on the Yellowknife midwifery program and made a determination it was not effective to run it with just one midwife.

"They made a decision to put these services on hold pending the result of the broader review ... Yellowknife has, in the Northwest Territories, the best services available on the medical front, of nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, obstetricians, everybody that you could possibly need to have a successful pregnancy, to do the prenatal and postnatal work," said Miltenberger.

"Yes, midwifery is nice to have if we can afford it. We have low flexibility at this point to be adding programs of any kind. Within that context, we're getting the work ready for the time when, should it come in the not too distant future, where there are other resources that could be brought to bear for initiatives such as this."

In the meantime, family physicians and nurse practitioners working for the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority will continue to deliver prenatal, birthing and postpartum services.

Registered midwives monitor the health of mothers throughout pregnancy and birth, providing education and counselling and performing various diagnostic tests. They can prescribe and administer drugs. They also provide care for newborn infants for up to six weeks. In Yellowknife, midwife-assisted births take place at Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Wendy Lahey, one of the main organizers of Monday's protest, said she hopes birthing options are improved in Yellowknife and throughout the NWT.

"We hope MLAs will have a fruitful discussion and really encourage the Department of Health and Social Services to take a good look at this analysis ... I just want them to go out on a limb and take a chance," she said.

Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro met with protesters, and afterwards said she supports the midwifery program and is disappointed it was suspended in Yellowknife.

"We need to keep funding it and keep it going. We've cancelled it before we really have done the analysis and review, and we should keep the program going until that is done. If that then proves that it's not a valuable service, OK fine, then cancel it but we're cancelling before we really know whether or not it should be kept going," said Bisaro.

During Monday's session inside the assembly, several MLAs voiced their concerns to about the suspension of the service to Miltenberger and asked him what the department's plan is for the analysis and review, which he said would cost approximately $100,000 to carry out.

The NWT adopted midwifery legislation in 2005 and Miltenberger said the current review process is a step forward in developing the services by working with current midwives, the medical community and expectant parents.

"The intent was, as resources became available, to see if that type of birthing service, which is used by three-quarters of the rest of the world, could be made more available across the North," Miltenberger told Yellowknifer.

"There is a commitment to lay out the best way of moving forward with services, considering keeping in mind that about 30 of the communities we have don't have any birthing services at all and how would we - if the resources were available - would we move forward," he said.

Miltenberger told the assembly the plan is to have the review and analysis completed by the time the next government sits after the territorial election this fall. He said the next government will create a business plan and "see where this ranks on the to-do list."

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