Grant: Operating Grant - PA: First Nations, Inuit and Metis Health

Becoming a mother is a wonderful experience for women, their families, and their communities. Everyone would like to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. In Northern communities there are some things that may make being pregnant and having a baby more challenging than other places in Canada. Sometimes the doctor or nurse does not speak Inuktitut or the local language and may not be familiar with the culture. Some women may not always have access to female doctors and may have to fly to another larger community to deliver their baby. This can make things uncomfortable and difficult for the women and their families. The mother may have to be away from her partner and other children, and be in a community where she may have few friends and no family support, and may not have access to the foods she would normally eat at home, such as traditional or country foods. These things may discourage her to go for check-ups and she may not get the information she needs to be as healthy as she can be during her pregnancy. We would like to work with all women, especially those who may get pregnant to find out what women eat, what they do during pregnancy, and how they feel about their health care in the North. We will ask all the men in the communities their thoughts on how they can support the health of the women. With this information we hope to build a program (the basis for a follow-on proposal) with the community that addresses any issues raised and improves access to a more culturally appropriate health care system that supports and works with the communities to have healthy moms and healthy babies. We want to build a partnership between the communities, the health centers and the health researchers at the University to improve Aboriginal women's health.