A local organization is calling for access to midwifery care in the Flin Flon area.
The Flin Flon branch of the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI), an organization focused on encouraging breastfeeding, has launched an online petition called Manitoba Health: Midwifery in Flin Flon.
While women giving
birth in the Flin Flon General Hospital do not have access to a midwife, there are five midwifery positions in the Northern Health Region (NHR).
Twyla Storey, communications coordinator for the NHR, said there are currently two midwife positions in The Pas, two in Thompson and one in Norway House.
When asked how midwives were allocated, Storey said, “The placement of the midwifery positions are based on demonstrated need and where the positions can have the biggest impact, as midwives are a limited resource.”
According to NHR records, in 2015, 133 women gave birth in Flin Flon, compared to 865 in Thompson, and 334 in The Pas.
The BFI petition, published online at Change.org, outlines medical benefits to midwifery care. “Numerous studies have shown midwifery care to have less obstetrical interventions, a reduction in cesarean sections, a reduction in severe perineal injury, fewer babies born preterm, and fewer babies with low birth weight.”
The petition also cites research showing that moms who have midwifery care are more likely to breastfeed after their babies are born—a key concern for the BFI group.
Janice Erickson, registrar for the College of Midwives of Manitoba, the regulatory body for the profession, said there has been steady growth in midwifery in the past decade, but there are still not enough midwives to meet demand for their services provincially.
There are currently 53 practising midwives in Manitoba.
“The reason that there is not enough is probably multi-factorial,” Erickson said, “But certainly education and training is one of those issues.”
Sara Pawlachuk, a member of the local chapter of BFI, said she has spoken to several women in the Flin Flon area who want to work with a midwife. She said local women seek out midwives for various reasons, including a preference for holistic care, a desire for more post-partum support, and not wanting to encourage medical interventions such as an episiotomy or an epidural.
“We are hoping to get at least a couple hundred signatures, just for a baseline, to prove that there is a demand here, and it may be something to look at in the future,” said Pawlachuk.
For Flin Flon-area moms who want to work with a midwife, the nearest option is to travel 140 km south to The Pas. Women who choose this option must travel for all prenatal appointments and to deliver their babies.
Vanessa Unrau is one local mom who considered taking this route.
“Part of the draw for me for midwifery is that they address the whole woman,” she explained.
“Our society tends to think of being pregnant and having a baby as a symptomatic thing, and here’s how you fix it, and here’s the problem, rather than embracing the entire thing and celebrating it.”
Ultimately, the prospect of a 90-minute drive while in labour was a deciding factor for Unrau, and she delivered her baby in the Flin Flon hospital with an obstetrician as her primary care provider.
“The nursing staff we have are fantastic, and our obstetrician was very open-minded,” she recalled. “But there were some things that I just didn’t have access to. As open-minded as they were to my birth plan, there were some obstacles that we just couldn’t get over.”
“I just wish there had been the choice,” she said.
Erickson says access to choice of care provider is important when meeting the needs of pregnant women.
“It’s important for women to have an option for the kind of care they feel is well-suited towards them, so depending on what their health needs are, their social needs, some of the services midwives provide can be different from what’s available in non-midwifery services.”
When asked if the Northern Health Region would respond to the results of the BFI petition, Storey wrote, “Hearing the concerns of the community is always helpful when considering health concerns of our residents.”
As of Tuesday morning, the BFI petition had 47 supporters. The petition can be viewed at www.change.org/p/manitoba-health-midwifery-in-flin-flon-mb.
