Fight to keep planned birth in Attawapiskat finally over, says midwife

Community leaders in Attawapiskathave successfully defended the right for women to have a plannedbirth in the community a right they had been granted by the health authoritysix years ago but was deniedby regional physicians in 2015, according to the local midwifery clinic.

Christine Roy is a midwife in the First Nations community who helped deliver babies shortly afer a midwifery clinic was opened inthe community in 2012.

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"It had been a long, long time coming," said Roy, who first started working in the First Nation community back in the 80's.

"It took decades and decades of advocating and different initiatives that rose and fell for various reasons."

Women taken for 'confinement'

Before women were able to give birth at the hospital in Attawapiskat they would be flown out of the community and away from family.

"Women have been forced to go south and they call it confinement not a very kind term," said Roy.

Roy said that healthy pregnant women hadbeenforced to fly hours to hospitals in larger centres at 37 weeks since the mid-60's.

"Want it or not you'd have to go, you didn't have a choice to stay."

'There are to be no planned births'

That changed in 2012 when theNeepeeshowan Midwifery Clinic opened with Roy and then midwifeCarol Couchieoperating things.

But the clinic ran in to troubles three years later.

I was carrying everybody's hope that this would get resolved on my shoulders so I'm very, very happy that this is solved.- Christine Roy

"No, no,there are to be no planned births in the community of Attawapiskat," Roy recalls physicians in Moose Factory telling the clinic in 2015.

Moose Factory is where the regional hospital and health authorityarelocated.

Fighting for birth rights

As Roy struggled with the new directive people in Attawapiskatstarted to rally in support of women's wishes.

"Women stood clear and in fact not just women, but the entire community the chief and council stood firm on this. And board members have stood firm on this," said Roy.

"They've engaged in to the necessary steps to resolve this issue."

Those necessary steps started with local meetings that confirmed what people in Attawapiskat wanted in 2012: "There was not a soul in town that wanted to lose the midwifery program," said Roy.

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The fight climaxed with a lengthy afternoon meeting in Moose Factory this March attended by health professionals, elders, chief and council members, physicians and midwives from Attawapiskat,including Roy.

"We had also a very good, rich panel of people that came in from across the country to participate and add voice to this and just to bring more evidence about planned birth as being a safe option for women in a remote community," said Roy.

"We were quite succesful."

Stress of a Community

Roy said getting planned birth back in Attawapiskat through midwives is a giant relief.

"We have fought so hard," said Roy. "I was carrying everybody's hope that this would get resolved on my shoulders so I'm very, very happy that this is solved."

How to have a planned birth in Attawapiskat

6 years ago

Duration 0:59

Midwife Chrstine Roy explains how they work with pregnant women in Attawapiskat

"Pretty much every woman in this community is followed by the midwives," said Roy, adding there about 60 pregnant women and somewhere between 10 and 12 that will have the baby in Attawapiskat.

The long term plan is to bring midwife practice and planned births to First Nations communities along the James Bay coast.