Health committee  Thank you for the question, Ms. Nash. I think Ms. Hébert answered your question. Yes, to the extent that it would give greater visibility across Canada to the profession, giving greater visibility would then add further support to our communities across Canada. It would help wi

Health committee  Thank you.

Health committee  Thank you very much.

Health committee  I would just like to add to that. The World Health Organization recommends about a 15% C-section rate internationally. We're seeing much higher rates than that now, of course.

Health committee  Definitely with midwives the C-section rates are coming down, but they are not in general.

Health committee  Could you please repeat the first part of the question again?

Health committee  Well, we're not entirely sure. We believe it is a federal policy, but we don't know where it originated from. It is hard to find that data sometimes. But the policy across Canada is that women leave their home communities around 36 to 37 weeks of pregnancy and are flown out to ma

Health committee  That's right.

Health committee  That is because in northern Quebec a treaty was made with the federal government allowing Inuit midwives to work within their own communities, and I believe, to be paid by the federal government through a mechanism within the treaty process. Those Inuit midwives are working in th

Health committee  They now have a tripartite agreement so federal dollars flow to B.C., which then flows that money directly onto reserves, and then they make those choices regarding who the care providers on reserve will be.

Health committee  I'd like to add to that. We are holding an international congress of midwives in 2017, which would be an opportunity for the government to highlight some of the successes it has had in maternal and child health internationally and perhaps on the national stage as well. Going forw

Health committee  Thank you very much, Ms. Davies, for your comment. I appreciate that and your question. I think an important barrier has been identified in terms of having equal access to midwifery care across Canada and ensuring equity across Canada as well for midwifery care. Currently there

Health committee  It's over two years now.

Health committee  On reserves, for example, or in federal jurisdictions right now there are a number of job classifications. For example, doctors and other health care professionals can be hired to work on reserve, but there is no federal classification to hire a midwife, so it simply isn't possib

Health committee  Good afternoon. My name is Ellen Kanika Tsi Tsa Blais. I am an aboriginal midwife from the Oneida Nation of the Thames, which is one of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. I am from the Haudenosaunee territory, the people of the longhouse, and I am honoured to be here to