Perinatal Services BC celebrates Indigenous cultures and traditions as integral to health care.
These resources are developed with and for Indigenous Peoples and health professionals to support culturally safe care that improves health outcomes and honours Indigenous perspectives and traditions.
The First Nations Health Benefits Coverage brochure has information on Indigenous pregnancy and infant care.
This practice resource helps health-care providers ensure clinical perinatal care is respectful and safe for Indigenous Peoples. It outlines actionable frameworks and principles for culturally safe, humble, and trauma-informed health care.
Access the following materials to learn more about the resource:
- Presentation recording
- Practice resource guide
- Practice poster
In this 38-minute presentation, Jessi Minnabarriet, Provincial Lead, Indigenous Health, Perinatal Services BC, reviews why there is a focus on Indigenous Maternal Health and then reviews the practice resource,
Honouring Indigenous Women’s and Families Pregnancy Journey; a resource to support health-care providers learn how to support Indigenous women and families during the perinatal period.
It is with special thanks to the Aunties, Mothers, Grandmothers, Sisters, and Daughters who graciously shared their stories and experiences to help in the creation of this resource.
The presentation slides are also available
here (PDF).
Click on the video still below to play the presentation.
Practice resource guide
The multi-page guide (in PDF format) can be
viewed online, and downloaded.
The poster highlights key practice principles to support Indigenous women during the perinatal period. View and download the poster.
Health organizations collaborated with Indigenous Peoples to develop this practice resource. Practice shifts must be undertaken at both individual and organizational levels, in consultation with Indigenous Peoples, to recognize and respect their cultural needs, preferences and priorities.
Perinatal Services BC acknowledges and thanks the women, mothers, parents and pregnant individuals who shared their stories and experiences to help health-care providers learn how to support Indigenous women and families during the perinatal period.
This resource also benefited from the feedback and input of a multi-disciplinary group of advisors knowledgeable about health, Indigenous health, cultural safety and humility, and trauma-informed practice. Find acknowledgements on pages i-ii.
- Pregnancy passport: A culturally appropriate health promotion resource empowering women and families through their sacred journey of pregnancy
- Emotional health: A guide to emotional health in pregnancy and early parenthood for Indigenous people and their families
- Doula services: Information for communities interested in providing Indigenous doula services, or individuals interested in becoming doulas
- Safe Sleep Toolkit: An educational toolkit that helps service providers discuss safe sleep practices with Indigenous families to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
- Hypoglycemia: A medical guideline and parent brochure for primary health-care providers to help them discuss hypoglycemia information one-on-one discussion with Indigenous families.
- Informed consent for contracepton: A shared decision making guide and form. It can be used as a guide to having a conversation with a patient about methods of birth control.
Please email psbc@phsa.ca to request a professionally printed copy of the practice resource. Or, download and print a copy. For printing, uncheck "fit" and use "shrink oversize pages" for optimal results.
