Grant: Op. Grant: NWHRI: Innovation Fund - Healthcare implementation research

In many Indigenous cultures, pregnancy is one of the greatest medicines and birth is recognized as its own ceremony to celebrate new life. Across the globe, Indigenous Peoples have had to struggle to ensure continuation of cultural knowledge and practice as a result of colonial interference. In northern, rural and/or remote (NRR) communities Indigenous Peoples struggle to find reproductive maternity care services on reserves or close to them, and culturally safe care is rare. There is a well-established social movement in Canada to bring traditional birthing practices back to communities utilizing Indigenous midwives and birth workers to provide reproductive services. The overall goal of our study is to increase access to Indigenous knowledge and perinatal health services for pregnant women or expectant parents living in NRR communities. We will employ evaluation research in development and implementation of a strategy to deploy an Indigenous-led mobile perinatal health clinic called Sâkihitowin Lodge to meet that goal. Sâkihitowin is the Plains Cree word for love. This innovative mobile perinatal health clinic offers an on-the-ground solution to service accessibility challenges experienced by expectant Indigenous parents and families living in NRR communities. Mobile clinics are a promising healthcare delivery model to reach Indigenous populations with limited access to care. Despite documented benefits, there has been little effort to systematically study how culturally relevant implementation strategies in NRR Indigenous communities can support the implementation and sustainability of mobile clinic programs in geographically isolated areas, two prerequisites to success in achieving health outcomes. Our research aim is to describe and assess the development and implementation of a community-driven strategy to support the delivery and impact evaluation of an Indigenous-led mobile perinatal health clinic in two remote communities.