Baby Registries for Northern Moms

I’ve been pregnant 4 times while living in the NWT, I’ve given birth 3 times at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife and once in Ontario, and we are raising 5 children in our remote community - we welcomed one more child into our family through foster care.

There are challenges (and perks) to pregnancy, birthing, and parenting in the North and on top of that, there are additional challenges some mothers in our community face. We have a high rate of domestic abuse, single parents, substance abuse, and unemployment. And there is little-to-no housing available so many homes are multi-generational.

As a member of our community for 9 years, I can relate with (and have experienced) many of the obstacles that come with being a mom in a remote community - 45 min plane ride or 3 hour drive to visit Doctors and/or the hospital in Yellowknife; potential of being flown to Edmonton for emergencies throughout pregnancy and birth; limited access to pregnancy care items (vitamins, etc); no access to prenatal fitness classes, birthing classes, etc; and the biggest obstacle of all: leaving home at 36 weeks to wait in Yellowknife at a hotel or Boarding Home for the birth of your child.

Josh and I would like to support mothers in Whati and celebrate their growing families. I would ultimately like to connect southern families with northern families so that the help goes beyond financial support and turns into Christ-centred relationships that are long-lasting, healing, and stable. I would also like to give southerners a real look at what’s going on in the North, beyond what the media shows.

I am not sure how exactly I could go about connecting southerners with northerners to build authentic relationships, so if you have an idea let me know. The one idea I have is a birthday box in which you are matched with a child to send them decorations, cake supplies, and presents each year on their birthday - but that lacks the connection I am hoping for.

Ultimately, I think prayer pen pals would be great.

How we go about arranging that…I’ll do some thinking.

In the meantime, I have asked expectant moms in Whati if they would like to create a baby registry that could be fulfilled by friends and family down south. This started as creating baby baskets and just handing them out to expecting moms and then I transitioned to asking the mom to create a personal registry. I think it more useful and fun that way for the mom.

So, right now we have Paula. She is expecting a child in February. She has created a registry on Amazon. All items will be delivered to my PO Box in Yellowknife (when the Canada Post strike ends). I will collect the items and then deliver them to her house in Whati.

If you would like to contribute, you can check out her registry HERE.

If you would like to pray for her and her growing family, that would also be appreciated.

If you would like more specifics about prayer needs in town, please message me.

Rebecca