Grant: CIHR Fellowship

This research respectfully involves and engages Indigenous communities in a collaborative, community-driven study exploring the resources, supports, and training that Indigenous doulas in Winnipeg, Manitoba require in order to meet the needs of Indigenous clients navigating Child and Family Services investigations and the threat of birth alerts. Birth alerts, the practice of flagging newborns "at-risk" due to parental histories or characteristics, have been critiqued by Indigenous communities and legal experts as discriminatory and a barrier to perinatal healthcare. In Manitoba, where 90% of the children in foster care are Indigenous and 15% of children in care were apprehended at birth, doulas who support Indigenous families throughout the perinatal period are a critical resource for their clients and for provinces seeking to end the discriminatory policies that have led to an over-representation of Indigenous children in foster care and a reduced uptake of perinatal healthcare by Indigenous people. Provincial governments are increasingly recognizing the value of Indigenous doulas in helping at-risk families prepare for parenting and have piloted programs matching Indigenous doulas with Indigenous families at risk of child apprehension with the intention of reducing the average days spent in foster care. However, there is yet little research identifying the types of supports that Indigenous doulas require in order to provide this kind of support and guidance. Partnered with Indigenous community organizations, this study aims to fill that gap and strengthen resources for Indigenous doulas and programs focused on reducing child apprehensions by building our knowledge of what doula care for families navigating Child and Family Services can accomplish, determining the required resources for doulas to successfully meet these goals, and identifying best practices for trauma-based dooula care protocols in these communities.