The Jeffries Family: Five-year-old Lucas, with mom Kendal Carlberg, sister Maggie, 2 and dad Nathan Jeffries. (Submitted Photo/Sherilyn Ens)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Expectant women plan for unexpected

‘Turned us away’: Pregnant women in Meadow Lake face uncertainty over Christmas

Dec 19, 2023 | 3:39 PM

This Christmas season, expectant mothers in Meadow Lake are finding themselves in a situation remarkably similar to a story with origins that date back 2,000 years. In this modern version of the tale, however, the proverbial inn has become medical staff shortages and women in labour are being turned away from hospitals.

“It’s disappointing that I still have to share this story,” said Kendal Carlberg.

In March, 2021 Carlberg was 10 days from her due date with her second child. She and her husband were asleep when she started having contractions. Throughout her pregnancy with her daughter, the birth and delivery ward of the hospital fluctuated between being open and closed due to a nurse shortage at the time.

“I had an appointment with my doctor on the Friday and she let me know ‘don’t have her this weekend; the hospital’s closed,’” she said.

After discussing it with her husband about whether they should leave and go to Saskatoon, Carlberg said they decided it was far enough out from the date that they’d be OK.

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But their daughter Maggie had other plans.

“When we showed up to the hospital, I was still a little shocked that they turned us away,” she said. “I knew it was closed but at the same time surprising I guess or maybe disappointing.”

The New Democratic Party Health Critic Vicki Mowat recently released Saskatchewan Health Authority data as the result of a Freedom of Information request that showed the Meadow Lake Hospital closed its obstetrics services 157 times since 2020, and 66 days from January to August of this year.

“It’s really concerning to see obstetrical services in hospitals closed across the province,” she said.

Planning Ahead

“Women should not be driving from hospital to hospital to try to figure out where they’re going to give birth. That’s not the way the process works – you don’t get to schedule when you’re going to give birth – you can’t plan that in advance,” Mowat said.

According to the SHA website, the hospital’s obstetrical services are closed until Jan. 2 and in an emailed statement said, “patients requiring assessment or imminent delivery should continue to present at the hospital.”

“On a temporary basis, those patients requiring surgical interventions, such as a (Cesarian-section), will be transferred to an alternative facility. Routine low risk births will continue to take place at the Northwest Integrated Health Care Facility when staffing is available.”

MeadowlakeNOW also reached out to the Ministry of Health but have not yet received a response.

Carlberg’s first pregnancy with her son Lucas required an emergency C-section following complications. Being in labour with Maggie, she and her husband Nathan Jeffries were redirected to the Lloydminster Hospital two hours away.

“I was instantly stressed right out that we were going to hit a complication and it’s March in Saskatchewan, so it’s cold, it’s dark, you know, the highways are lonely – we have some areas that don’t have any cell reception,” Carlberg said.

The Unknown

“It was definitely stressful leaving Meadow Lake, knowing that something bad could happen, right?”

With thoughts of hitting a moose, a deer or having car trouble as they made their trek to the border city, it soon got past the point of no return. Jeffries pulled the car over to the side of the highway just outside of Paradise Hill and called for help.

“He managed to keep it together and called 911 and followed the operator’s instructions and was ready to deliver a baby,” Carlberg said noting an ambulance from St. Walburg was on its way.

“Being in Northern Saskatchewan, it took 15-20 minutes for the ambulance to come,” Carlberg said. Paramedics made it just in time.

“I’d just finished a contraction in my car, and we then moved to the ambulance and [during] the next contraction, Maggie was born.”

Mowat said what Carlberg, and other women in northern communities are facing “is a tragedy waiting to happen.”

The lack of surgical staff and resulting closures isn’t just happening in rural communities but also larger centres like Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and Yorkton. In a separate announcement, the Official Opposition released SHA data via spreadsheet – also obtained through an FOI – that shows in the last four years, the Meadow Lake Hospital has had 774 days of disruptions. It isn’t clear in which areas or departments, and they join 52 other Saskatchewan facilities who have faced disruptions to service.

Going the Distance

For Carlberg, it’s a disappointing reality for people both in the North and in the province and she knows of women planning ahead to prepare for the unexpected.

“Meadow Lake for a lot of people is the closest hospital within 100 if not 200 km of, you know, radius. It’s stressful. I know it was an unnecessary stress that we had to go through,” she said.

What women are faced with now, Carlberg said, is leaving their home communities and uprooting families for days or weeks at a time and she lays the responsibility squarely on the government.

“I would love our government to step up to the plate – fund – put the money where it’s needed: healthcare, education, have the bodies there to have our people safe,” she said.

“You should be able to walk up to a hospital and get help. We live somewhere where we are given access to healthcare, and we should never be turned away.”

Meanwhile, Maggie will turn three next year. Carlberg said her family was fortunate.

“We had a good delivery, and nothing happened to our little girl.”

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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