$1.00 + HST Vol. 27 | No. 5 Thursday, March 3, 2011
Adell Robson and Stephen Saunders are happily at home with their family after spending a month in Williams Lake awaiting the birth of their second daughter
Lack of birthing services in Bella Coola a challenge for local families BY CAITLIN THOMPSON Driving hours from your home community to give birth has become the norm in many small communities across the province. In Bella Coola, it is an all too familiar story since birthing services ceased to be offered locally three years ago. Recently, this issue has sparked much attention as stories such as the community
of Fort Nelson, where women are forced to drive four hours to give birth in the larger community of Fort St. John. As many as 50 pregnant women a year make the 380 kilometre road trip south to give birth. In Fort Nelson full maternity care is frequently suspended when the staff that are needed on hand to perform emergency caesarean sections are unavailable, said Chris Morey, spokeswoman for Northern Health.
In Bella Coola, the resources for women who need cesarean sections simply don’t exist anymore. As a result, Bella Coola women are advised to leave weeks before delivery and to fund the entirety of their expenses on their own, something that is difficult for many families to afford. Baby showers in Bella Coola are preceded by fundraisers to enable expectant parents to
pay for the trip out. “We do see a lot of families holding fundraisers to help out with costs,” said Bella Coola General Hospital CEO Michel Bazile. Adell Robson and Stephen Saunders recently returned from Williams Lake after the birth of their second child. The couple, along with their 18 month old daughter, had to spend nearly a month in the city waiting for the birth of their second child. Robson
said the entire experience is something she does not want to repeat. “We had to wait over a month in Williams Lake waiting for the birth of our first daughter and another month waiting for the birth of our second,” she said. “It was even harder this time around because we had our oldest daughter with us.” SEE FAMILIES ON PAGE 3