Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Midwifery Profession Act has allowed for the licensing of registered midwives since 2005 in the Northwest Territories. The Act establishes a licensing and complaints discipline regulatory framework. The Act does not prohibit private practice.
Currently, registered midwives in the NWT work within the Health and Social Services system as employees, so their services are covered by the NWT health care plan as a core program. This is similar to a number of services such as vision exams, physiotherapy, occupational therapy. These services are not covered if they are provided in a private clinic, and that's true for physiotherapy and occupational therapy and those services as well.
If a registered midwife was willing to assume the costs of private practice such as insurance, overhead, staffing, those types of things, they are free to do so in the Northwest Territories, but a registered midwife would have to bill their clients directly, and their services would not be covered by the Act. Thank you Mr. Chair.