Merci, Madame la Presidente. That's a tough act to follow.
This is the 14th time I've raised midwifery as an MLA. Based upon an update received recently from the Minister of health, some good progress appears to have been made. Although I would say it's been a long road. Work on creating a full midwifery program began a decade ago in 2013. Here's a summary of where I'm told we are now.
Work has gone ahead under the coordination of a territorial midwifery program implementation working group. Staffing has and continues to be a big challenge but, again, good progress appears to have been made. I'm told that a territorial manager is staffed and tasked with overseeing midwifery care through the NTHSSA regions and in cooperation with the Tlicho Community Services Authority and Hay River Health Authority.
A territorial midwifery specialist is staffed in Yellowknife, providing postpartum care through Stanton Hospital. The Yellowknife team has two of four midwives hired, also providing outreach services in Behchoko since 2022.
A lactation specialist was staffed in September 2022 with federal funding for one year, supporting Stanton Hospital and the regions.
Fort Smith was fully staffed with three midwives although a recent staff departure has cut service, with patients having to travel to Yellowknife.
Hay River has full services while recruiting continues.
The work of the implementation group is apparently being carried out under a project charter. That's news to me, and I'll have questions.
With these actions, I am told that full implementation of midwifery services for the NWT is moving into its final phase. One aspect of implementation that I don't see referenced is the rollout of program structure and design through consultation with the Midwives Association of the NWT. That group expressed concerns in late 2021 with the model of central nodes of midwife expertise providing remote services to clients and community health nurses, not midwifery services located in all regions. The update provided to me noticeably lacks references to midwifery service delivery in the Sahtu and BeaufortDelta and I'll have questions there as well, Madam Speaker.
That said, it looks like the long road from 2013 has an end in sight, and I'll have questions for the Minister of health on what remains to be done and how we're going to begin evaluating what we do. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
