Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee, for allowing me to speak on behalf of Brenda. It's unfortunate that she's not able to connect, as she brings a very unique perspective to this committee.
I'm now going to read her statement for you, as follows.
My name is Brenda Epoo and I'm an Inuk midwife from Inukjuak, a small village in the remote Arctic region of Nunavik, Quebec. I am part of a team of indigenous midwives that serves seven villages on the Hudson coast, using modern and traditional Inuit midwifery skills.
The month of May celebrates midwives and nurses globally. To acknowledge this, the World Health Organization and partners launched “The State of the World's Midwifery 2021” report, which tells the story of the COVID-19 pandemic and how midwives serve their communities in a time of crisis.
A key finding of the report is that during the crisis there has been an increase in violence and reduced access to essential reproductive and sexual health services, and that, critically, midwives play a crucial role in providing support and guidance and access to these important health services.
Across the world, including here in Canada, women and gender-diverse pregnant people are struggling, which has led to increases in maternal mortality, unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and infant mortality. While Canada has an established public health care system, it is highly inequitable.
At home in the Arctic, midwives are the leaders of the maternity. We protect our communities and help lessen the impacts of COVID-19 on families. Our Inuit-led model of midwifery is culturally appropriate, with excellent clinical outcomes, including 86% of births taking place in Nunavik between 2000 and 2015. Our model leads the world in linking traditional and medical ways of knowing, and yet we remain largely unrecognized and unseen.
The significant contributions we make day in and day out are not known to most Canadians and policy-makers. Systemic racism is rampant in the health care system, especially against indigenous people. We need a more compassionate and thoughtful system that recognizes the important role that indigenous medical professionals play as clinicians, educators and mentors.
The National Aboriginal Council of Midwives believes that investments in indigenous-led community-based education strategies are critically needed. This investment will create meaningful opportunities for indigenous training, apprenticeships and, ultimately, increased culturally relevant service capacity.
NACM has already developed a sophisticated indigenous midwifery core competency framework that allows communities to customize opportunities to maximize local benefit. We are ready to partner on expanding this initiative to create a more inclusive, responsive and equitable health care system, especially for indigenous people living in rural and remote communities.
Here in the north, we do more than catch babies and do postpartum care. We provide an opportunity for children to be born on our land, in our communities, with a sense of place and pride. It's all about our families, communities and creating future generations of healthy people.
Thank you.