Iewirokwas Cape Award for Midwifery Heroes
Iewirokwas Cape Award for Midwives honours those midwifery heroes who work quietly within our many and diverse urban, rural, and remote communities across the province and who do so with 'honour, equity, humility, justice and inclusion'. It is given annually to two exceptional Ontario midwives, spotlighting their unique contributions to midwifery and to their communities. 2017 was the inaugural year. Iewirokwas (yeh wee loh gwas) in the Kanien' kéha (Mohawk) language refers to those who “scoop them from the water” or “pull them from the earth” or “pull them from a dark, wet place” to the light. In English, Iweirokwas is what we call a Midwife. Christine Smith This annual award has been established as a tribute to Christine Smith, a gifted Ontario midwife now retired, who is Kanien’kehake (Mohawk). Christine practiced both pre and post legislation, from 1984 to 1999. Pre-legislation practice was difficult but Christine had found her calling and she never contemplated leaving the profession to seek a better wage elsewhere. She supplemented her below-poverty-line midwifery income with odd jobs like stuffing envelopes, sewing and cleaning. Midwifery services pre-legislation were self-pay and a substantial percentage of Christine's caseload was purposely reserved for people who live with poverty and other systemic barriers. Even minimal payment for midwifery services was often beyond the means of the marginalized families with whom Christine chose to work; she once accepted a barn puppy as payment for a birth. Knowing the disadvantages experienced by their clients, Christine and her partner, working with other radical allies, established the very first free hospital beds in Ontario dedicated to pregnant clients without health insurance. This set in motion a broader practice still in place today in hospitals across the province. It has made an enormous difference in the lives of families otherwise burdened by a lack of access to reproductive care in hospital. The early days of Ontario Midwifery were remarkably difficult: Christine worked full time on call, taking only one month a year off call; the rest was midwifery at its most challenging; full caseload, on-call 24/7, August 1st to June 30th, every holiday, every birthday, every single day, year after year, never earning above the poverty line, for 10 years in a row until legislation was enacted. She never complained, laughed easily, approached the world and midwifery with humility, common sense and a distinct talent. Like so many other pre-legislation midwives, particularly racialized midwives, Christine was often treated with derision and blatant disrespect by other clinicians but she treated all with quiet professionalism, humility and a rare dignity. She continued to practice midwifery post-legislation and worked with an active interest in equitable outreach to ensure that midwifery was available to everyone, not just those with privilege and access. Even in retirement, Christine remains a quiet midwifery hero who fully embodies the principles of honour, equity, humility, justice and inclusion. |
As a pre-legislation midwife
On the day of the Michener graduation ceremony
Retired and content
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