Health officials apologize for forced tubal ligations

The Saskatoon Health Region has “much work to do” to address systemic problems highlighted in a report on Aboriginal women forced into tubal ligations, SHR officials said.

Indigenous women who were coerced into being sterilized in the hours after giving birth in the Saskatoon Health Region felt “invisible, profiled and powerless,” the external review found.

Women told reviewers of feeling harassed by labour and delivery staff into signing the consent form for a tubal ligation, and of health workers using scare tactics about what might happen if they didn’t have the procedure, including a doctor who talked about a woman who died after having a caesarean section and then talked again about tubal ligation.

“While our policies haves changed, we need to revisit these using a more collaborative approach involving those most impacted. It is difficult to hear the women’s stories and the impact tubal ligations have had on their lives,” SHR director of maternal services Leanne Smith said following the release Thursday of the report, titled Tubal Ligation in the Saskatoon Health Region: The Lived Experience of Aboriginal Women.

“Every woman, regardless of race or social circumstance, should feel safe in our care. This report serves as motivation to improve our services and this will include a more robust advisory council with the voices of grandmothers, women and First Nations and Metis leaders.”

The review was commissioned after several women told their stories to Postmedia News and other news media in the fall of 2015. After a false start, the sixmonth review began in January 2017.

Jackie Mann, vice-president of integrated health services for the Saskatoon Health Region, apologized on behalf of the region.

“We are deeply sorry for what these women experienced, and for any other women in our community who had similar experiences, but were unable to come forward,” she said.

“The report states that racism exists within our health-care system and we, as leaders, acknowledge this. This report provides us with clear direction on how we must move forward to truly start the healing that needs to occur.

“We are thankful to the women who had the courage to come forward to share their story with the reviewers about their experience. You have been heard and will be listened to.”

The 56-page report was authored by Yvonne Boyer, a lawyer and Canada research chair in Aboriginal health and wellness at Brandon University, and Dr. Judy Bartlett, a physician and ex-professor with the College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba.

It was published after the sixmonth independent external review which was launched in January after Aboriginal women came forward about being coerced into having tubal ligations after delivery.

The independent review was originally expected to be completed by spring, but “to ensure every effort was made to reach out to women who delivered their baby in Saskatoon, the reviewers extended the process until the end of June,” the health region said in a statement.

According to SHR, 16 Indigenous women called and spoke to the review assistant. Seven of those women participated and shared their stories.

The reviewers also interviewed health-care providers.

Based on interviews with the women, “it was hard to know” which staff members were involved in the situations, Mann said.

At the same time, Mann added, she thinks any staff members who were involved and who read the report would likely recognize themselves.

“I hope they do,” Mann said. Melika Popp, who was among the complainants, said she is “grateful” to both Boyer and Bartlett “for rising to the occasion to create transformative change.

“I’m feeling positive about the report and recommendations,” Popp said.

“My children and all future generations will be able to live in a better world.”

SHR said the findings indicate there were themes of “feeling invisible, profiled and powerless” for the women interviewed. The reviewers have developed 10 calls to action, the SHR said, including mandatory cultural training for staff, an advisory council with authority, reparation, policy revision and cultural competency education in nursing, medical school and all health professions.

It also calls for “adequate funding and support” for provincial restructuring of health services to Indigenous people, including “extraordinary measures with culturally-grounded primary health care that Aboriginal women and their families create for themselves that will promote comfort and belonging while accessing health care that serves their needs.”

Smith said she is “extremely committed” to seeing the calls to action through, noting she has two First Nations daughters and three First Nations grandchildren.

“I expect better not only for my own family … but for every woman,” Smith said.

“To me, this is more than my job. I am committed to making a difference. I know Jackie and I will hold each other to that. I know our elders will hold us to that and I know others will too.”

The report states that racism exists within our health care system and we, as leaders, acknowledge this.