NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: South Slave Region

Tags: health, health care evaluation, maternity care, midwifery

Objective(s): To look at outcome data that is available from a perinatal database developed during the last two years in Fort Smith; and to describe the experiences of women who have given birth using the community-based midwifery service.

Project Description: This project will look at outcome data that is available from a perinatal database developed during the last two years in Fort Smith. This database include data pertaining to utilization of the midwifery service by the women in the community, perinatal outcomes, and transfer rates. This project will also use qualitative methods to describe the experiences of women who have given birth using the community-based midwifery service. This project will be participatory in that the participants will be consulted on how involved they would like to be with the research project and what they would like to see accomplished with the research findings. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) will be used as the research approach for the entire study in Fort Smith, NT, including both the qualitative and the quantitative components. For the quantitative study a look at patients past medical histories and subsequent outcomes will be evaluated. This data will be from over 300 women who have been cared for during peripartal period at the midwifery service in Fort Smith. The statistical analysis will include adjusted odds ratios to evaluate many of the outcomes and indicators. The methodological framework for the qualitative aspect of the study will be exploring the meaning of community birth within a cultural context. For this part of the study the researcher will be spending roughly 4 weeks in the field, using a combination of interviews and focus groups to maximize data collection. The Fort Smith Midwifery Program is a community achievement in that the community members have a choice of birthing locally rather than being evacuated, unlike most other rural and remote communities across Canada. This research project will give the women a chance to share their stories of community birth with midwives and the evaluation of the clinic could give rise to suggestions that could improve patient safety and/or satisfaction. Midwifery has been shown to aid in the restoration of culture and traditional birthing techniques in Aboriginal communities. This project will be using participatory methods and community members will be consulted on how they would like to see the research findings used, and if/how they would like to share their story of successful reclamation of community birth. The knowledge translation aspect of this project will be determined with the participants as part of the qualitative study. The graduate student will share her thesis and any other published papers with the Fort Smith Midwifery Program and the Health and Social Services Department. A community presentation with some of the participants could also be arranged. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from November 7, 2012 to December 31, 2012.