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April 2003 - October 2004
The local health centre in Alert Bay
Principal Investigators: Stefan Grzybowski and Jude Kornelsen
Co-Investigator: Ann Pederson
Support Team: Lana Sullivan, Michael Anhorn, Catlin Rideout, Elizabeth Cooper
Haida Gwaii, Alert Bay, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Sparwood
Status of Women Canada
This research investigated rural maternity care from the perspective of parturient women,
care providers, health care administrators and local leaders. We found that women’s
experiences were influenced by the
attitudes and actions of care providers and the organization of health system services. The
study took place within a dynamically changing health care environment in which three of
the four study sites ceased offering birthing services during the course of the project. The
lack of clearly defined policies supporting rural maternity care was reflected in a tenuous
infrastructure for local birthing. This left local services vulnerable to the vagaries of
practitioner’s attitudes, critical incidents, the variable social and historical context of the
community and geography. Literature on risk assessment provides a lens through which
some of the findings may be interpreted.
Rural Women's Experiences of Maternity Care: Implications for Policy and Practice  (1.08 MB - this is a large file and may take awhile to download)
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