Midwife clinic may set up in Attawapiskat

The northern Ontario First Nations community of Attawapiskat could be getting a midwifery clinic.

Residents hope such a facility will offer an alternative in a community where giving birth can involve a month-long stay away from home.

Currently, women from Attawapiskat give birth in hospitals in Moose Factory, Timmins, or in some cases as far away as Kingston, Ont.

Stan Louttit, the Grand Chief of the MushkegowukCouncil, which represents communities on the James Bay Coast, said a midwifery clinic would be a welcome alternative.

"It allows for families to be together and witness and be part of this very happy occasion in their families," Louttit said.

The practice would operate out of a nursing station in the community with two midwives — one of whom is Carol Couchie.

Couchie, who is of aboriginal descent, said midwives were a part of First Nation culture until colonization.

"It was really easy at that time to sort of give midwives the boot, to be sort of blunt," Couchie said.

She said they're waiting for final funding approval from the provincial government.

But Couchie said she hopes the clinic will open early next year.