Pregant

There is a growing demand for midwives in the Cypress Health Region and some local residents are petitioning the provincial government to hire more.

"I think it's really important for every woman to, at least, to have the opportunity to have a midwife," said Kalaane Lemyre, a local mother who helped put the petition together. "It's something that's so natural that it shouldn't be something that you need to go to the hospital for."  

At present, the health region has two full-time midwives and one part-time.

The petition is located on the website, change. org, and it's addressed to Saskatchewan's health minister, Dustin Duncan stating that "Cypress Heath Region needs funding for more midwives and a space for them to work from."

Midwives are health professionals that focus on natural childbirth, supporting the mother from the beginning of pregnancy, though delivery and with postpartum home visits. The Midwifery Act took effect on March 14, 2008 in Saskatchewan.

Lemyre invites the public to join the Facebook group, Supporting Midwives in The Cypress Health Region for more information about the petition, and so far, she's pleased with the response.

"The reaction was really amazing. Just within the first twenty-four hours, we had over two hundred signatures and it keeps growing," Lemyre said. "I think it's a really good thing to get everybody aware of this situation here, so a woman should be able to give birth the way they want, with who they and in their own environment if they choose to."

For International Midwifery Day on Saturday, May 9th, a potluck will be held at Riverside Park, from 1 to 3pm.