Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Focus groups reviewing the need for a midwifery program were held in Yellowknife last week, but the NWT Citizens for Midwifery says the wrong people are being consulted.

Wendy Lahey of the NWT Citizens for Midwifery isn't satisfied.

"These focus groups are just a token. There is one consultant working on this huge project," said Lahey.

Her concern is that Yellowknife's voice has already been heard loud and clear on the issue, through a petition, a protest, and a survey they sent out to MLA candidates.

"They should be hearing from people in the communities that need care like this," said Lahey, who added it wouldn't just be better for health, but that it would save the GNWT money. "All of the flights, and the hospital care. A mother can't return home for up to four weeks when they give birth at a hospital."

Lahey added travelling to give birth is especially difficult when a mother already has children, and has to leave them to give birth in Yellowknife.

"We only wanted to hold focus groups in communities where they previously had midwifery programs," said Tracey Farmer, the consultant organizing the focus groups for the firm DPRA Canada, funded by the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority. A focus group was also held in Fort Smith. The cost of the review is estimated at $85,000 to $105,000 according to Farmer.

Stephanie McCabe, 29, from Hay River, said that while she can't speak from personal experience, that she'd like to give birth with a midwife.

"I'd really like to have that option and I would have been interested in taking part in a focus group."

Sarazine Basil, 70, an elder representative for the Native Women's Association in the South Mackenzie Valley, gave birth to 12 children in her life, two of whom she lost in child birth.

"I had the first four at home, without the drugs. It was a healthy and strong way to give birth," said Basil, adding "Its the way it was always done before, no one is trained to do this now."

Basil wasn't aware that focus groups were being held, but said that it would be of great interest to her community. Basil said that there is a gap in care for her community when it came to maternal health.

"It isn't just giving birth, a midwife can teach a mother how to eat, and take care of herself, this is how it always used to be done. It wasn't until the 1960s that I gave birth in a hospital."

The focus groups were only advertised in the past week by posters in Yellowknife, but both focus groups were well attended, and 21 people shared their views, ideas and concerns with the consultants.

Midwifery services were suspended in Yellowknife on May 6 to allow the government to review and perform an expansion analysis to develop options for a territory-wide midwife program. At the time, Health Minister Michael Miltenberger also admitted that costs to offering midwife services were also part of the review.

Currently, midwife services in Fort Smith are still in place. There are two midwives in the community.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.