| Abstract: | The history of abuse and isolation of Native Canadian populations has created
a gap in maternal health care, resulting in infant mortality rates (IMRs)
of 12 per 1000 births for on-reserve populations compared to 5.8 per 1000
births for the general Canadian population. This discrepancy is deemed a
population health issue, as Native Canadian people constitute roughly 3% of
the Canadian population, but have infant mortality rates similar to other
third world countries.
Currently, there are multiple government and non-government organizations in
charge of providing maternal health care for on-reserve populations. A lack of a
unified communication system linking these organizations creates a gap in the
delivery of services and compromises the prenatal care in Native Canadians. The
current method of caring for high risk pregnancies on Northern Canadian reserves
is to fly the mothers out of their home community to a hospital that is
both far away from their families and completely foreign to them. This practice
contrasts with the cultural norms of the Native Canadian population, where expecting
women receive antenatal care from elder women within their community.
New models of care, in which midwives are the primary providers of antenatal
care within a given community, have recently been implemented in Northern
Quebec and other isolated areas of Canada. The midwives work with women elders
of the community to provide a full system of maternal care. These new
models show great promise in improving our current system of maternal health
care for Native Canadians by providing more efficient and accessible antenatal
care while also incorporating cultural norms of the communities. |