When that number or that decision to put a midwifery program in the Beaufort-Delta was originally decided or originally included in the report, a number of realities were quite different. We actually didn’t have stable physicians in the Beaufort-Delta providing birthing services. They had not implemented the MORE OB program in that particular region and the birth numbers were quite high.

Since that time and prior to this decision, birthing rates in the Beaufort-Delta had stabilized. We had full-time, stable physicians in the community who had actually gone out and put in the MORE OB program in the Beaufort-Delta. It’s actually a recognized and award winning program in the Beaufort-Delta.

Based on discussions with the physicians, practitioners in the community and some other stakeholders who had a vested interest, it was determined, given the low number of births and the desire of the physicians to still be involved in birthing that it would be more appropriate to focus on the front end part of the Midwifery Program, which is the education and working with the community health nurses. As a result, the Beaufort-Delta decided to take a slightly different direction, w

here they brought in a nurse practitioner to work as part of the MORE OB team to provide some of the pre-birth work that a midwife would actually do. Thank you.