Grant: Catalyst Grant: Indigenous Approaches to Wellness Research

Most women in rural Manitoba First Nations communities travel to tertiary centres to deliver their babies. The impacts of being alone and unsupported include a range of psycho social stress resulting in poor health outcomes for mom and babies such as preterm birth, low and high birth weights, infant and neonatal mortality. Having support during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum can alleviate some of these poor health outcomes. Doula care is about supporting women during labour and birth and has shown considerable efficacy with women from marginalized groups or transcultural climates. This research will examine how an Indigenous doula program can address poor health and social outcomes for First Nations women who travel for birth. This project involves one of the largest First Nations communities in Manitoba (Cross Lake) with the Manitoba Indigenous Doulas Initiative (MIDI), university researchers (University of Winnipeg/Manitoba), and First Nation's researchers (First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba/Nanaandawawegimeg). This project will develop culturally based doula training in Cross Lake. The MIDI will then recruit and train women in the community to become prenatal/postpartum community doulas along with the urban birth doulas. Women in Cross Lake will be offered doula care the community doula and connected with a birth doula in the referral centre. Women will receive the care of her community doula up until she temporarily relocates to the referral centre at which time she will come under the care of her urban doula who will also provide care during the birth. Once the women has given birth and she returns to her community, the community doula will take over care. Throughout the doula care a variety of health measurements will be taken including pregnancy related anxiety and stress and postpartum depression. We expect to recruit 15% of the expectant mothers for a total of 30 women.