Every family deserves access to safe, respectful, and culturally grounded care during pregnancy, birth, and the early days of parenting. The Raising Our Children Midwifery and Birth Work Initiative is working alongside First Nations communities to strengthen these supports and help families have the care they need, closer to home.
Building the Foundation
During the first year of the initiative (2024–2025), community engagement and needs assessments highlighted important gaps in perinatal care. Families shared a strong need for Indigenous midwifery services and culturally safe supports, including:
-
- Prenatal and post-partum care.
-
- Chest/breastfeeding support.
-
- Parenting and fatherhood programs.
-
- Accessible prenatal education.
These conversations helped shape the direction of the initiative and ensured community voices remained at the centre of the work.
Turning Ideas into Action
In the second year (2025–2026), the focus shifted from planning to action. The initiative worked to strengthen supports for expecting and new families by:
-
- Providing chest/breastfeeding education.
-
- Developing prenatal learning modules.
-
- Gathering and honouring birth stories.
-
- Building partnerships and engaging with communities.
-
- Developing the Our Sacred Journey: Indigenous Pregnancy Passport.
The Our Sacred Journey: Indigenous Pregnancy Passport was created to support families throughout pregnancy while honouring Indigenous traditions and teachings. It encourages healthy pregnancies and helps families prepare for their traditional way of welcoming their baby into the world. The passport recognizes that bringing a baby into the world is sacred, spiritual, and life-giving, while providing a place to record important information, reflect on the pregnancy journey, and stay connected with care providers.
This work recognizes that pregnancy and birth are more than medical experiences they are deeply connected to culture, family, community, and the next generation.
Looking Ahead
As the initiative enters its third year (2026–2027), the focus will continue to grow. Priorities include expanding educational resources, strengthening community partnerships, integrating cultural practices into pregnancy and birth care, and exploring community-led birthing initiatives.
By supporting Indigenous midwifery and birth work, we are helping create a future where families have greater access to culturally safe care, traditional knowledge is honoured, and children have the healthiest possible start in life.
This month, the Midwifery and Birth Work Initiative is partnering with Zaagi’idiwin to offer Indigenous Doula Training. This training will help build local capacity by supporting Indigenous birth workers with culturally grounded knowledge and skills to care for families during pregnancy, birth, and the post-partum period. By investing in Indigenous doulas, we are strengthening community-based supports and helping families receive care that honours their culture, traditions, and lived experiences.
You can download a copy of Our Sacred Journey: Indigenous Pregnancy Passport here –Our Sacred Journey: Indigenous Pregnancy Passport.
For more information, please contact acwinfo@slfnha.com.
