Part 2:  Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues of Concern to Aboriginal People

Ensuring the health of our babies today will make a stronger Nation for tomorrow.¹ (click here for footnote)


Because the future of Aboriginal people depends on having and raising healthy children, communities need to work together to help, support and protect their pregnant women.

In order to have the healthiest pregnancy possible, a woman needs to eat good food, get exercise and rest, as well as focus on positive thoughts and feelings. Giving up or limiting smoking, alcohol and junk food, protecting herself from or getting treatment for HIV/AIDS, and seeking safety from dangerous relationships will help her have a healthy pregnancy.² (click here for footnote) 

Family and community support can help a pregnant woman accept her new responsibilities. Culture-based prenatal care by a doctor, nurse or health clinic is very important. Mentoring programs that encourage Elders to teach and model traditional values and practices can help increase health for mothers and babies.

Cultural Teachings

	The grandmothers came to visit her and the grandfathers went to him. They spoke gently and firmly. She did not want to hear what they were saying. Then the oldest and wisest grandmother spoke:
"You may not experience the suffering yourself, you may think it will not affect you, but your children or grandchildren may suffer for your decision. You may never know how many generations may be affected, but those innocent ones will bear the burden."
Later on, when she held her strong and healthy grandchildren, full of hope and promise, she knew to thank the grandmothers for helping her to see way into the future and helping her to make a good decision.3 (click here for footnote)

The responsibility for the health of a pregnant woman in Inuit society clearly rested with both the woman and her husband, parents, in-laws, and elders. While young women were frequently overwhelmed with advice, they were surrounded by a caring family from the first sign of pregnancy until after birth.4 (click here for footnote)

The elders believe that a woman should be of good physical and mental health before she conceives. She should give up bad habits which could harm the prenatal development of the child, such as smoking, drinking, poor eating habits, worry, anger, and fear. A man should also try to achieve these goals and offer support to his wife or partner to make her pregnancy easier and more enjoyable.⁵ (click here for footnote) 

Getting Good Prenatal Care

Getting good health care while a woman is pregnant is important for her good health and the health of the baby. Health care providers can provide advice and support for healthier choices and also look for any problems with the fetus, and suggest tests and treatments. Health care providers can also provide referrals to other services, including traditional healers, prenatal programs and midwives. Seeing a doctor or other health care provider regularly during pregnancy also helps the woman prepare for birth.

Eating well during pregnancy is important to the health of the baby and mother. Eating too much "junk" food such as potato chips and chocolate bars causes two problems: first, you do not get the vitamins and minerals a baby needs to gain weight and grow strong, and second, often this unhealthy food replaces whole foods that do make mothers and babies strong. Unfortunately, eating fruit, vegetables, grains and other healthy foods can be hard to do if you live in the far north, have little money, other children to feed or your life is filled with stress.

Health care providers and family and community members can help by making practical suggestions for healthy eating and getting more vitamins and minerals. Many communities are starting nutrition programs such as food banks, community kitchens and prenatal programs to make sure that pregnant women have access to healthy food.

Smoking during pregnancy and exposure to second-hand smoke can cause pre-term birth, problems during delivery, as well as low birth weight, continuing health problems for the baby or even newborn death. The more tobacco smoke a woman is exposed to during her pregnancy, the greater are the chances of her baby having serious health problems.

Pregnant women should be supported in any efforts they make to stop or reduce smoking. Partners and other family should stop smoking around them. Peer counselling, video instruction and professional counselling can help. Communities committed to supporting pregnant women to have healthy children can organize activities and programs that help smokers quit and encourage others not to start.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) are names for the physical, mental and growth problems a child may suffer as a result of its mother drinking a lot of alcohol during pregnancy. Problems like low birth weight, a small head size, difficulty learning, getting sick easily and taking longer to get better, are common. These problems happen because alcohol poisons the unborn baby’s cells while they are growing and developing.

Many women do not know that drinking alcohol can hurt their unborn baby. Doctors, nurses, Elders, teachers and daycare workers can get this important message out to the community through posters, radio announcements and community presentations. When the dangers are known by all, there will be more support for pregnant women struggling with alcohol addiction.

Women with HIV can have healthy babies, but they need medical support and information on how to take care of themselves and their children. Without treatment, HIV/AIDS can be passed from a mother who has it to her baby during birth. Because HIV is spread from mother to child through breast milk, the mother needs to learn about the right kind of milk to feed her baby.

HIV/AIDS is still a difficult issue for some people and communities. We need to talk about HIV/AIDS and overcome stereotypes and wrong information so that we can offer pregnant women and their babies the best possible support and services.

Some research studies show that violence toward a woman can increase while she is pregnant, and violence toward pregnant women is often aimed at the stomach and sexual organs. Some beatings result in losing the baby, early labour and delivery, or the baby suffering harm. Obviously, women living with violence find it hard to get regular prenatal care, to eat well and remain positive.

Women living with violence need to know they are not alone, and that help is there if they need it. Safety is the most important consideration. Communities can help protect women from violence by developing programs that help abusive men deal with their problems and provide support for women leaving violent relationships. Prenatal programs can discuss violence and support women in their choices.

Pilot coordinator Willow says:
When working with the community, it is important to always keep in mind the issues that may be facing them. Sometimes meeting basic needs is just as important as getting a message across. For instance, at Ma Mawi, we offer transportation, snacks or supper and child care in order to increase attendance. Regardless if people are just attending for the food, they might hear the message and come back in the future for support.
Willow Boulanger, Positive Adolescent Sexuality Support Project, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

¹  Aboriginal Pre & Post Natal Nutrition Program (brochure), Odawa Native Friendship Centre, Ottawa, no date.  (back to paragraph)

²  Medicine Wheel For Becoming A Mother, Rosella M. Kinoshameg, United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin, Native Health Unit, Little Current, Ontario, 1995.   (back to paragraph)

³  Ethics Guidelines for Aboriginal Communities Doing Health Work, Aboriginal Healing Foundation, Ottawa, 2000, p. 4. Available at: www.ahf.ca/english-pdf/ethics_guidelines.pdf   (back to paragraph)

⁴  Documentation of Traditional Inuit Practices Related to Pregnancy and Childbirth (audiotape), Pauktuutiit Inuit Women’s Association, Ottawa, 1993.  (back to paragraph)

⁵  Healthy Children — Healthy Nations, Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, Ottawa, 1996, p. 8.  (back to paragraph)