cover image: Celebrating birth : Exploring the role of social support in labour and delivery for First Nations women and families

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Celebrating birth : Exploring the role of social support in labour and delivery for First Nations women and families

6 Feb 2009

One of these women is the midwife, who “is responsible for the safe passage of the mother and baby” and the others are “behind or beside the other, holding and comforting her” (Ashford, 1988, quoted in Doulas of North America, 1998, p. 1). [...] Drawing from the scientific literature on continuous emotional and social support for labouring women, the discourses surrounding First Nations women’s experiences of birth, and looking at the gaps in care for First Nations, a clear picture of the role of doula care for First Nations families becomes apparent. [...] The experiences of First Nations women was clearly articulated in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) which cited that living conditions and lack of health care choices resulted in disparity in birth outcomes for Aboriginal peoples: 7 …lack of access to health care and transportation; shortages of food; the lack of appropriate and affordable housing; the absence of culture-based pren [...] Because of this, the discourse around birth and pregnancy often becomes a part of the greater dialogue of self- determination and rights for First Nations people and communities. [...] The next section of this paper goes into detail about the specific functions and actions of labour support that contribute to the improvement of maternal and fetal outcomes.
health social support empowerment indians of north america anthropology biology childbirth culture family history infants labour language medicine pregnant women health care midwife labor, obstetric indians, north american society health sciences native peoples first nations obstetrics/gynaecology birthing cochrane (organisation) empowered prenatal labor (obstetrics) doulas doula cochrane review
ISBN
9781926543130
Pages
32
Published in
Canada

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