Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s speech, we had the honour of having a birth in Hay River recently and it is an honour because it rarely happens. My question is to the Minister of Health about the Midwifery Program and the review that is currently under review, where it currently sits.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
The review and expansion analysis of the Midwifery Program was scheduled to be done this month. It’s about three weeks behind and I’m expecting that the program and the review will be done very soon.
My next question for the Minister is: Is the review being done for all communities in the Northwest Territories? Is it regionally focused or Yellowknife focused? Where is the focus?
Although we only had midwifery services in Fort Smith and Yellowknife, this is an NWT midwifery review.
I guess my question to the Minister would be: How do we get our communities on the review and on the radar to have this type of program available to them?
This is a good start, the Member bringing this to the floor of the Legislative Assembly. I’m very pleased to hear that Hay River is interested in the Midwifery Program. We will have to partner with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority to review the request. Once the review is done we’re hoping that the program will expand. In a place like Fort Smith, in 2011 there were 24 babies born in Fort Smith with midwives and 26 more that were taken to birth and then were born in most likely Yellowknife, as we said, or elsewhere because of possible risk or mother’s choice.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish I could have more questions, but my last question would be: In the review, is there an analysis of what the cost savings are to have these births in the communities as opposed to having to travel and stay in communities such as Yellowknife or Edmonton or Grande Prairie for these families?
Although the review itself cost about $105,000, we do believe as a department, as do the other health and social services authorities, that there is a cost savings when a baby is born closer to home with a midwife. The exact savings I don’t have here but I can make that available to the Member without a problem. There is definitely a savings from having a hospital birth under a doctor’s care.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
