Unit 6 - Vulnerable Populations

As a nurse in neonatology, health inequities in maternal and newborn care is an issue that I am interested in and is related to my work.

A study by Kolahdooz et al. (2016) shows that Indigenous women experience higher rates of adverse pregnancy and childbirth-related outcomes, such as stillbirth, perinatal death, low birth weight infants, prematurity, and gestational diabetes. Residual effects of the trauma of colonization is seen as a contributor to many of the health inequities present in Indigenous communities. Lack of access to health care services, remote communities, hazardous environmental contaminants, and socioeconomic disparities are also seen as contributors. Participants interviewed also noted racism, lack of cultural support, and travelling outside of their community to give birth as stressors that affected mothers’ emotional, physical, and economic well-being.

Source:

Kolahdooz, F., Launier, K., Nader, F., Yi, K. J., Baker, P., McHugh, T. L., Vallianatos, H., & Sharma, S. (2016). Canadian Indigenous women’s perspectives of maternal health and health care services: A systematic review. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care, 13(5), 334-348.

Some First Nations populations experience an infant mortality rate up to four times the national average. In order to address this inequity and support maternal and child health programs, researchers in Toronto were awarded a $2.6 million grant. A project called "Kind Faces Sharing Places: An Action Research Project for Indigenous Families During and After Pregnancy and Birth” was launched, aiming to bring better health care services to First Nations populations through culturally-sensitive care and community supports. Participants in the program were connected with mental health-care services, social service agencies, housing transition support, and traditional counseling and healing.

Source:

Whalen, J. (2017). “We can’t do it alone”: Indigenous maternal health program aims to address inequality of health care. CBC. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/indigenous-maternal-health-program-1.4130303