Inuit midwifery services are a health and cultural right: report

A group representing Inuit women and gender-diverse Inuit in Canada is working to expand traditional midwifery services across the North, saying they are a health and cultural right.

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada recently released a report on improving access to sexual and reproductive health services across Inuit Nunangat, or Inuit homeland in Canada.

The report details findings from a national Inuit midwifery forum held in March 2023, with a focus on returning and reintegrating Inuit midwifery in Inuit communities as an act of decolonization and self-determination.

“Access to traditional midwifery is a vital practice that we continue to call for,” president Nancy Etok said in a statement.

“Pauktuutit is disappointed in the lack of funding directed to this initiative in the recent federal budget.

“Sexual and reproductive health are inherent and fundamental human rights. Inuit have the right to inform and lead the development of policies relevant to Inuit health and wellness.”

The report states governments are not providing Inuit access to equitable, high-quality and culturally safe maternal and newborn care. The document adds there are cultural, social and economic risks associated with the lack of Inuit midwives, including family separation, anti-Indigenous racism, and the lack of community support in southern hospitals.

Current health practices in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut and Nunatsiavut require pregnant people to temporarily relocate to regional hubs or cities in the south to await the birth of their children.

Participants at the forum in March said that relocation prevents culturally meaningful birthing experiences, separates pregnant Inuit from their support networks, interferes with bonding between parents, infants and siblings, and denies Inuit the right to give birth and be born in their homeland, among other challenges.

Pauktuutit said the report will help in the development of a national framework on Inuit midwifery that aims to address the education and training needs for Inuit to become midwives, while setting out how to integrate traditional midwifery services in clinics and hospitals.

The organization also plans to formalize partnerships with key organizations and identify gaps within the Inuulitsivik Inuit Midwifery Service and Training Program in Quebec, as well as opportunities to scale up the program in other Inuit regions.

Pauktuutit has called for urgent government support for Inuit-centred health models and services.