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Hands of a midwife

Retired midwives Akinisie Qumaluk, right, and Leah Qinuajuak in a photo from their early years working in the maternity clinic at the Inuulitsivik Health Centre. (Duncan McCue/CBC)

Retired midwives Akinisie Qumaluk, right, and Leah Qinuajuak in a photo from their early years working in the maternity clinic at the Inuulitsivik Health Centre.

Photo: (Duncan McCue/CBC)

RCI

For decades, Inuit women in northern Quebec had to travel south, far from family and support, to give birth. That changed in 1986 when the North’s first midwifery clinic opened in Puvirnituq

Akinisie Qumaluk loves her small and skilful hands.

Over her long career as an Inuk midwife in the North, they were the tools she needed to help babies find their way into the world.

We always make sure that the baby’s head is down, said Qumaluk.

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