Posted on 22 August 2008
Ottawa, August 22nd, 2008 - Senator Charlie Watt would like to congratulate Ms. Brenda Epoo and Aileen Morehouse of Inukjuak, Quebec on receipt of their licence as midwives by the Ordre Des Sages Femmes du Québec (Quebec Midwives Regulator).
These women are the first Inuk-trained midwives to receive full permit in the history of the Order allowing them to legally practice their profession with total autonomy.
Although Inuit midwives have been delivering babies for thousands of years, they have struggled to gain recognition by the Province.
The “Ordre des sages-femmes du Québec” was incepted in 1999 and the law let the Order to give restricted permits to Inuit midwives. These permitted them to practice only in the north. The announcement by the Ordre des sages-femmes du Québec, with the Inuulitsivik Health Centre on August 15th marks the first midwifery licence granted to the Inuit in Quebec in almost a decade, and the first unrestricted licence ever given to Inuk-trained midwives.
The decision of OSFQ will now open the way for other Inuit midwives to receive full accreditation in the Province of Quebec and will encourage others to enter this profession.
By admitting Inuit midwives to the OSFQ, and acknowledging traditional Inuit knowledge, the OSFQ is recognizing the value of Inuit midwifery. Senator Watt hopes this recognition will spread to all of Nunavik and help to ensure that Inuit births remain in the community.
The midwives of Nunavik currently serve a population of about 5,000 people on the Hudson Bay Coast (50% of the population is under the age of 20).
Nunavik has 3 birthing centres which are located on the Hudson Bay Coast. The Inuulitsivik Health Centre opened a birth centre in Puvirnituq in 1986, in Inukjuak in 1998 and in Salluit in 2004. These facilities provide prenatal care, and deliver approximately half of Nunavik’s quickly growing population. The remaining pregnant women are airlifted to Montreal and other southern communities because of the lack of birthing facilities and trained workers along the Ungava Coast in Nunavik.
Senator Watt wishes success to the current midwifery students who are scheduled to graduate this fall and hopes that more Inuit Inuit will consider a career in midwifery.
He also wishes good luck to the future students and to the other community midwives who will hopefully receive unrestricted licences in the near future.