Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently attended an open house for the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority’s midwifery program. The event was well attended and highlighted the value of midwives in the Northwest Territories. There are currently three midwives practising in the Northwest Territories: two in Fort Smith and one here in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah.
The Midwifery Profession Act, proclaimed in 2005, provides for the licensing, registration and regulation of registered midwives in the Northwest Territories. Midwives have been active intermittently in Yellowknife since 2006 and in Fort Smith for over ten years.
Midwives are health care professionals who provide low risk women with necessary support, care and advice during their pregnancies, labour and delivery and after the births. Their care includes preventative measures, detection of complications in a mother and child and accessing further medical assistance if there is a need. The midwife also has an important role as a health counsellor and educator, not only for the mother but also her family and community.
Midwives may practise in any setting, such as homes, clinics or hospitals. Women in midwives’ care do not normally see a physician unless complications arise. That reduces the workload on general practitioners currently performing routine examinations on expectant mothers. Obstetricians and gynecologists are open to the partnerships with midwives to make sure that mother and child receive quality care.
Mr. Speaker, midwifery is publicly funded in five jurisdictions, including the NWT. The province of Alberta has recently allowed insurance coverage to midwife services. In Holland, England and New Zealand midwives manage 70 per cent or more of the births compared to only 3 per cent in Canada. There is a growing popularity of midwives here, and an increasing number of expectant mothers are being turned away due to limited funding for midwifery programs. Since January 2008, 16 Yellowknife women have been declined midwifery services due to lack of space.
Yellowknife Health and Social Services has funding for only one midwife position, although there is clear public support for more. Yellowknife Health and Social Services is committed to the success of a sustainable midwifery program. The midwife works closely with an obstetrician, family physician and nurses and has regular contact with midwives in Fort Smith. Clients can call upon the midwife 24 hours a day, seven days a week, unless she is off on call or annual vacation leave. The midwife is presently responsible for 26 women requiring various types of care and fills her quota of new clients every month.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll be fast. A detailed list of her responsibilities demonstrates a wide range of services provided by midwives and helps us understand how highly women in the community value her care.
At the appropriate time I’ll be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services about midwifery programs in Yellowknife.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
