HGT Magazine #101 September/October 2019

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Baby Layla 28 HG
Born at Home Sandspit’s First Home Birth in Nineteen Years By Shannon Hammond Sandspit residents Brenna and Ken Kowalchuk are delighted to be the parents of Layla Mabel Woodburn Kowalchuk, born on June 15, 2019, baby sister to four-year-old brother Lucas. Weighing in at 7lbs8oz, Layla is the first baby born at home in Sandspit since 2000, with previous home births in 1998 and 1978. Layla’s birth was attended by Brenna’s best friend and doula Lauren Field, as well as Haida Gwaii midwife Anne-Marie Cayer. It marks the first birth ever attended by a Registered Midwife in Sandspit. This sparse frequency of home births in Sandspit speaks to the inherent challenge of birthing at home in a small community isolated from medical care. When the weather is fair, the Alliford Bay ferry runs approximately every hour between 7am and 6pm. But if the weather is wild, as Haida Gwaii weather often is, travel to and from Sandspit can be delayed for entire days at a time. For Sandspit parents who want to deliver their baby at home, this isolation presents a number of challenges. The other options are to plan a hospital birth in Queen Charlotte, or an out-of-hospital birth in someone else’s home closer to the hospital. Midwife Anne-Marie is one of the champions helping parents make their home birth dreams come true. For the birth of Layla, Anne-Marie played a much-appreciated advocacy role by coordinating the medical professionals needed for the birth, and working with Brenna and Ken to develop the various contingency plans needed in case of a medical emergency or transportation difficulties. The family was also provided with essential supplies for birthing at home and was prepared to deliver Layla with guidance over the phone from midwife or hospital if the delivery were to be precipitous. As Anne-Marie describes, “the plan requires being prepared for a variety of potential scenarios, a capacity for flexibility on the part of care providers and family, and some good luck.” With the birth of Layla, the luck was with the timing of the birth in relation to the ferry schedule, and the relative calm of Alliford Bay in the summer. As it was a very speedy labor, Anne-Marie managed to get there just in the nick of time. “Labor with Layla was 3 hours, very positive, and felt ‘easy’ compared to Lucas,” says mum Brenna, whose son was born in the Comox Valley hospital after transferring in from a planned home delivery that had gone on for a long time. Brenna is very grateful for the experience of delivering Layla at home, and under relatively easy circumstances. Anne-Marie expressed being, “deeply touched by the outpouring of excitement from the Sandspit community,” in regards to this birth. As she sums up, “it is something truly worth celebrating when a baby is born in their home, in their community, in a safe and respectful way. I am honoured to have been part of the experience for Brenna and for the community at large.” Well done, and congratulations to the Kowalchuk family! Lucas and his new baby sister Layla Midwife Anne-Marie Cayer and baby Layla Kowalchuk family September / October 2019 29
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Page 3 and 4: Contributors: Harmonie Blais has li
Page 5 and 6: THE SMALL TOWN WITH BIG CHARM CURRE
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Page 11 and 12: GARDEN MUSE By Christine Rowan LATE
Page 13 and 14: celebrating local independently own
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Page 43 and 44: On the Road In part or complete-Car
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Page 59 and 60: September / October 2019 59

HGT Magazine #101 September/October 2019

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