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A new birthing and childrearing lodge is nearly ready to open on Sturgeon Lake First Nation, but leaders say the biggest question is whether it can operate at full capacity.
The Shirley Bighead Birthing and Childrearing Lodge, set to officially open April 29, is the first Indigenous-led birthing lodge in Saskatchewan. The First Nation says it needs reliable, long-term funding to pay staff and offer full services for the long haul.
“This is a solution-based health-care system that’s going to bring community and family back intact, because that was broken through a lot of the systems that we survived,” Chief Christine Longjohn said, referring to the impacts of colonial policies across generations.
For decades, pregnant women in Sturgeon Lake have had to leave the community to give birth, travelling to hospitals in places like Prince Albert, Shellbrook or Saskatoon.
Longjohn said that separation isn’t just about distance; it can mean leaving behind tradition, ceremony and the support system many families rely on.
This centre is designed to keep those elements intact.
What the lodge will offer
The lodge will include four birthing pods and work alongside the First Nation’s healing lodge next door as part of a broader approach to community wellness.
Longjohn said the centre is staffed by one trained midwife, a nurse practitioner, support staff and birth workers. Eleven mothers currently in prenatal care are waiting for the lodge to open, she added.
The project has been described as decades in the making, tied to the guidance of elders and community “memory work” aimed at restoring knowledge about traditional birthing practices and past midwives in the community.
The push is shaped by recent history as well.
Longjohn confirmed the last birth in the community was in 2022 — the first time in more than 50 years that a baby was born on the First Nation. She said the goal is to make that the norm, not the exception.
Birth sovereignty
Melissa Cardinal-Grant, a registered midwife and core leader with the National Council of Indigenous Midwives (NCIM), said the conversation shouldn’t stop at facilities.
She cautioned against treating birthing lodges as the entire solution on their own.
“Here’s the thing: it’s just a building,” she said. “When we talk about returning birth back home, we’re talking literally about the return of a ceremony to a community. We’re talking about the return of roles that were taken away from us during colonization and during the residential school era.”
Cardinal-Grant said Indigenous-led birthing work is rooted in communities themselves, with organizations like NCIM providing support and guidance as communities decide what they want to rebuild.
Funding still not secured
The First Nation says it has been pressing the federal government for stable, multi-year funding that would allow the lodge to operate at full capacity, including increasing staffing and ensuring the space has the equipment and resources it needs.
Longjohn met with Indigenous Services Canada earlier this month for discussions, but no deal has been struck.
In a statement to CBC News, Indigenous Services Canada said it “remains committed to supporting Sturgeon Lake First Nation’s birthing lodge initiative and discussions are continuing.”
The statement noted the federal government has made investments since 2017 aimed at increasing access to midwifery services for Indigenous Peoples and supporting more births closer to home, surrounded by family and community.
But with the lodge opening in a matter of weeks, Longjohn said long-term funding is what will determine whether birth can truly come back home — and stay there for generations to come.
