Supporting the Reproductive Health of Criminalized Women and Trans Individuals in Nova Scotia

This panel will describe their work within health care institutions and community organizations to support the health of criminalized women and trans individuals in pregnancy and postpartum and with regards to reproductive health care. Women are the fastest growing population in prison in Canada, and Indigenous women and Women of Colour are vastly over-represented in carceral facilities. While advocating for decarceration, they support women within correctional institutions to access health services. The panel will provide time for questions from the audience.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop participant understanding of the conditions of imprisonment for women and trans individuals in Nova Scotia with regards to health services.
• Improve understanding of the causes of criminalization for women and trans individuals in Nova Scotia.
• Stimulate capacity for action among participants to advocate for criminalized clients experiencing addiction in the context of reproductive health services.

Presenters: Martha Paynter, BScN and PhD Student, Dalhousie School of Nursing, Halifax NS;

Glenda Carson, PhD, RN, PNC(C), IBCLC, Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist, IWK Health Centre, and Adjuct Professor, Dalhousie School of Nursing, Halifax NS; and

El Jones, Halifax NS

Martha Paynter is committed to the advancement of perinatal and reproductive health for women and families in Atlantic Canada. Paynter holds an MSc in Health Research Methodology (McMaster), a Master’s in Development Economics (Dalhousie) and a Graduate Diploma in Health Services and Policy Research. From 2007-2015, Paynter worked in health services management for the Departments of Health in NB and NS. Paynter serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Milk Bank Coalition. She is the President and founder of Women’s Wellness Within: An Organization Serving Criminalized Women, advocating and supporting pregnant and parenting women in corrections and in the community.   

Glenda Carson is currently a perinatal clinical nurse specialist in the Women’s and Newborn Health Program at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax NS. Her clinical population includes women and families who are experiencing complex high-risk pregnancies, including addiction and substance use. Glenda graduated with her diploma as a registered nurse from the Kelsey School of Applied Arts and Sciences in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and received her Baccalaureate and Masters degrees in nursing from Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS. She graduated with her PhD in nursing from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. As part of her advanced nursing practice role she provides perinatal nursing consultation and education to provincial regional hospitals, First Nations communities, the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness and the Reproductive Care Program of Nova Scotia. She is a member of the FASD Intergovernmental Exchange Group, Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. Her research areas of interest include the relational ethics and aspects of patient education and care. 

El Jones is a spoken word poet, an educator, and a community activist living in African Nova Scotia. She was the fifth Poet Laureate of Halifax. In 2016, El was a recipient of the Burnley "Rocky" Jones human rights award for her community work and work in prison justice. She is a co-founder of the Black Power Hour, a live radio show with incarcerated people on CKDU that creates space for people inside to share their creative work and discuss contemporary social and political issues, and along with this work, she supports women in Nova Institution in writing and sharing their voices. El was recently named the Nancy's Chair of Women's Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University for the 2017-2019 term. El would like to pay tribute to the many nameless and unrecognized women whose work makes it possible for her to be here today.