Staffing challenges: Expectant mothers in Canada's north must deliver in Edmonton

Expectant mothers in parts of the Northwest Territories with due dates between Dec. 10 and Feb. 21 were blindsided this week with news that they will have to travel to Edmonton to deliver their babies. The announcement from the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority—which cited staffing challenges as the reason for this decision—left many of the region’s pregnant women feeling distressed about having to be away from home during the holidays, not to mention potentially being without their preferred support person when they give birth. "It's very stressful and it's not good for the baby and I," Yellowknife resident Sara Hatcher told CBC News. Hatcher has no family in Yellowknife and her husband is working a rational shift as a mine worker. She had also already established a relationship with a doula and her parents had made arrangements to fly from Atlantic Canada to be with her family. Most worrisome for Hatcher was that the change would mean she would have to travel to Edmonton a few weeks before the delivery, leaving her toddler with no child care. Read: Medevacs take a toll on patients, families and doctors Dr. Michael Bokor, clinic director of Juniper Health in Yellowknife, said he's "disappointed" by the news. "The initial days after giving birth are really important to a parent and their child, and if you are in an environment that is stressful or anxiety inducing, I don't think that's great for you or the parent-infant health outcomes," he said. Heather Heinrichs, president of the Midwives Association of N.W.T., agreed. "Leaving your community for birth causes great disruption to the family. People are at a much greater risk of having mental health problems, depression, anxiety, those types of things," she said. The CBC News report quoted a spokesperson for the Northwest Territories health authority as saying the situation was largely out of its control, and blamed it on a number of factors that included the timing of staff departures, maternity leaves and medical leaves. These factors added to previously existing challenges resulting from the national shortage of nurses and the difficulties of recruiting staff to work over the holidays. So far the health authority is facing 70 upcoming vacant shifts at the hospital, according to the spokesperson, who said the move was "necessary in order to be able to provide safe and effective obstetrics care.” CBC also reported that more healthcare service closures were likely, according to a union representing government workers. Read: COVID-19 outbreak grows in N.W.T., military and Red Cross nurses deployed

Staffing challenges: Expectant mothers in Canada's north must deliver in Edmonton

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