Soon-to-be mothers in Burns Lake still have to drive to other communities to have their babies due to the lack of a maternity program in town.
In 2014/15, Lakes District News wrote a series of stories describing the frustration, costs and risks that local families are exposed due to the lack of maternity services in Burns Lake.
Although the $55-million Lake District Hospital and Health Centre, which opened in February 2015, is equipped with a dedicated delivery room, the hospital lacks qualified staff to deliver babies, administer anesthesia, and perform emergency C-sections or other interventions in an operating room, if required.
When the new hospital opened, health minister Terry Lake said he hoped the new facility would help attract more health professionals to the area and that this would allow the hospital to offer services such as obstetrics.
“We’ll be working with Northern Health on that strategy,” he told Lakes District News in February 2015.
The new hospital has now been opened for over two years, and there’s still no clear sign that a maternity program will be implemented in Burns Lake in the near future.
According to Northern Health, the lack of health care professionals in the area is not the only - or even the main - reason Burns Lake still doesn’t offer maternity services.
“Low-risk obstetrical services in communities require strong partnerships between health professionals, the community, and pregnant women and their families; some communities face challenges providing these services safely,” said Northern Health in a statement.
“While that may be partly due to staffing challenges, it can also be due to the fact that clinicians are not comfortable providing services in the absence of higher care-level support such as emergency C-section capability, or there are too few births, which impacts the ability of staff to maintain skills and competencies.”
“Northern Health recognizes that having expectant or pregnant mothers travel to give birth can be disruptive and inconvenient, but the ability to provide a safe, high quality, sustainable local service is our highest priority,” continued the statement.
According to Northern Health, discussions have been ongoing with local clinicians regarding prospects for providing maternity services for low-risk births.
“This would require a strong commitment from them [clinicians] for this approach to obstetrical care to be successful.”
Northern Health is also working on a two-day rural obstetrical education course for smaller communities that, if successful, could be offered in Burns Lake in the future.
“In the interim, Lakes District Hospital and clinicians in the community continue to provide pre and post-natal care to support mothers and their babies in Burns Lake,” added Northern Health.
The Ministry of Health also released a statement saying "ensuring that the necessary supports are in place [for a maternity program] can be challenging for rural and remote regions of B.C. and throughout Canada."
“Ideally, we want women to have the option to give birth as close to their families and communities as possible; however, the ultimate goal is always for mothers and babies to receive the safest, highest level of care,” said Lori Cascaden, a ministry spokesperson. “In order to do this, a number of supports need to exist.”
Cascaden said the ministry will continue to work with Northern Health, doctors and the local community on how they can support safe local maternity care in Burns Lake.