Faces of Childbirth : The Culture of Birth and the Health of the Greenlandic Perinatal Family

• Main Author: Montgomery-Andersen, Ruth
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Nordic School of Public Health NHV 2013
• Subjects: Kalaallit ilaqutariit; ernineq; ilaqutariit erninerup nalaanni; ilaqutariit meeraarartallit ataqatigiiaanik tapersersuisoqarnera; Greenlandic family; childbirth; perinatal family; health promotion; family support networks; Grønlandsk familie; fødsel; den perinatale familie; sundhedsfremme; netværk hos småbørns familie; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Greenland; Ilulissat; Nuuk; Sisimiut; Tasiilaq; greenlandic; grønlandsk; kalaallit
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-3781

INTRODUCTION. This dissertation concerns childbirth and its position within the Greenlandic society. It takes a world relational view to health promotion during, focusing on the perinatal family and the importance of the mothers, the child, their families and the local community as equal pieces of a whole. AIM. The aim of the dissertation is to present new concepts and knowledge concerning the health of the perinatal family in Greenland. It looks holistically at the place of birth with focus on the issue of support of the perinatal family. It seeks to present the perinatal family and its position within the Greenlandic society. It links the changes in health policy with the concepts of family, attitude and community structure. It draws on statistical, historical, anthropological and cultural data within the context of the Greenlandic perinatal family. METHOD AND MATERIAL. The dissertation is comprised of four studies and uses multidisciplinary methods. Over an eight-year period from 2003 to 2011, narrative interviews and focus groups were collected at four sites in Greenland: Nuuk, Ilulissat, Sisimiut and Tasiilaq. Data included seven focus groups with 35 participants, supplemented with 18 individual interviews of mothers, fathers and Culture Bearers, as well as two literature studies. The mode of conducting focus groups and interviews was based on the principles in the Helsinki Declaration. RESULTS. The perinatal family’s concepts of safety are often connected directly to access to family and community. Family is perceived as security, and lack of family support and network as insecurity. The concept of family and community is culturally specific and connected to the immediate family, extended family and kin. There is a cultural room for birth in Greenland, where the health of the perinatal family lies in their ability to strengthen the bonds within family, kinship and community networks. The mothers of the study perceived themselves as the bearers of their children; the fathers considered themselves to be the ...