Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta
It is not only remote Aboriginal communities in Canada that have poorer maternal-infant health status than Canadian averages; residents of First Nation communities located close to large urban centres also experience this health status gap. Alexander, Alexis, Enoch, and Paul First Nations are locate...
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Language: | English French |
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University of Alberta
2015
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 https://doaj.org/article/9d502e640eb84a068dbb68d1572708ac |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:9d502e640eb84a068dbb68d1572708ac 2023-05-15T16:15:48+02:00 Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta Adrienne Dawn Wiebe Sylvia Barton Laura Auger Em Pijl-Zieber Caroline Foster-Boucher 2015-10-01 https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 https://doaj.org/article/9d502e640eb84a068dbb68d1572708ac en fr eng fre University of Alberta 1923-3299 doi:10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 https://doaj.org/article/9d502e640eb84a068dbb68d1572708ac undefined Aboriginal Policy Studies, Vol 5, Iss 1 (2015) aboriginal health maternal-infant health demo anthro-se Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2015 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 2023-01-22T19:15:41Z It is not only remote Aboriginal communities in Canada that have poorer maternal-infant health status than Canadian averages; residents of First Nation communities located close to large urban centres also experience this health status gap. Alexander, Alexis, Enoch, and Paul First Nations are located within an hour of healthcare services in greater Edmonton. The narratives of 75 predominantly Cree and Stoney women from these communities were gathered through seven talking circles and five semi-structured interviews. The participants described their experiences of loss and separation as pregnancy care and childbirth moved out of the community and into the hospital over the last two generations. This shift was not only a geographic relocation; it also disconnected the childbirth experience from elders, family and community, traditional teachings, and spiritual meaning. Conversely, the participants’ hospital experiences were characterized by a limited sense of cultural safety. Participants highlighted the urgent need to reintegrate culturally based community support and health perspectives into the childbirth experience. The implementation of such a culturally integrated healthcare model in all Aboriginal communities—remote, rural, suburban, and urban—may be the key finally to closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal maternal and infant health status in Canada. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Unknown Canada aboriginal policy studies 5 1 |
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English French |
topic |
aboriginal health maternal-infant health demo anthro-se |
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aboriginal health maternal-infant health demo anthro-se Adrienne Dawn Wiebe Sylvia Barton Laura Auger Em Pijl-Zieber Caroline Foster-Boucher Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta |
topic_facet |
aboriginal health maternal-infant health demo anthro-se |
description |
It is not only remote Aboriginal communities in Canada that have poorer maternal-infant health status than Canadian averages; residents of First Nation communities located close to large urban centres also experience this health status gap. Alexander, Alexis, Enoch, and Paul First Nations are located within an hour of healthcare services in greater Edmonton. The narratives of 75 predominantly Cree and Stoney women from these communities were gathered through seven talking circles and five semi-structured interviews. The participants described their experiences of loss and separation as pregnancy care and childbirth moved out of the community and into the hospital over the last two generations. This shift was not only a geographic relocation; it also disconnected the childbirth experience from elders, family and community, traditional teachings, and spiritual meaning. Conversely, the participants’ hospital experiences were characterized by a limited sense of cultural safety. Participants highlighted the urgent need to reintegrate culturally based community support and health perspectives into the childbirth experience. The implementation of such a culturally integrated healthcare model in all Aboriginal communities—remote, rural, suburban, and urban—may be the key finally to closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal maternal and infant health status in Canada. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Adrienne Dawn Wiebe Sylvia Barton Laura Auger Em Pijl-Zieber Caroline Foster-Boucher |
author_facet |
Adrienne Dawn Wiebe Sylvia Barton Laura Auger Em Pijl-Zieber Caroline Foster-Boucher |
author_sort |
Adrienne Dawn Wiebe |
title |
Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta |
title_short |
Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta |
title_full |
Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta |
title_fullStr |
Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta |
title_full_unstemmed |
Restoring the Blessings of the Morning Star: Childbirth and Maternal-Infant Health for First Nations near Edmonton, Alberta |
title_sort |
restoring the blessings of the morning star: childbirth and maternal-infant health for first nations near edmonton, alberta |
publisher |
University of Alberta |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 https://doaj.org/article/9d502e640eb84a068dbb68d1572708ac |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Aboriginal Policy Studies, Vol 5, Iss 1 (2015) |
op_relation |
1923-3299 doi:10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 https://doaj.org/article/9d502e640eb84a068dbb68d1572708ac |
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op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v5i1.23823 |
container_title |
aboriginal policy studies |
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5 |
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1 |
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1766001666529689600 |