Indigenous Midwifery in Alberta

In our new blog segment, the Alberta Association of Midwives is sitting down with midwives throughout the province for an inside look at midwifery in Alberta and the important topics that make our profession unique, personal and compelling.

Indigenous midwives were once a cornerstone of Indigenous communities, but through the process of colonization and ongoing systemic racism within the Canadian healthcare system, access to Indigenous Midwifery care has been taken away from many communities. 

Among the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action is the call to recognize and value Indigenous healing practices and to increase the number of Indigenous professionals working in the healthcare field. The restoration of midwives in Indigenous communities is an integral part of answering that call. Indigenous Midwifery is once again growing across Nations.

Today, we're sitting down with Noelle Antonsen, a Registered Métis Midwife with Juniper Midwives in Calgary, Treaty 7, to discuss Indigenous Midwifery in Alberta and her experiences serving birthing people in our province.

Hi Noelle, thank you for chatting with us today! Why is Indigenous Midwifery care important to you and the communities you serve?

Historically, Indigenous midwives were very important, and every community would have someone who filled that role. Indigenous midwives supported all stages of life, from menstruation, through pregnancy, birth and menopause, with ceremony, education and emotional and spiritual care. 

Today, the scope of midwifery care looks quite different, as we're focused only on pregnancy, birth and postpartum, but as an Indigenous person, Indigenous Midwifery care is very important to me. From hearing stories from my grandmother about her experiences with labour and birth, as well as from peers, there is a lot of trauma and anxiety for Indigenous people navigating the healthcare system. Having an Indigenous care provider, there's a kinship and a trust there that is so important in Indigenous communities. People feel safe to open up about their health needs, and that allows us to provide the best care and advice. 

Juniper is a great place to be able to offer this care as we are close to many Nations, and we're also able to serve a large urban Indigenous population as well, so if people are feeling isolated from community, ceremony, land, we can help connect them with elders or other community members. We try to provide really holistic support, and we work hard to make our clinic environment feel safe and comfortable. We have a medicine garden and a 4-direction garden at the clinic, and our clients tend to stay longer to enjoy them! Their feedback is that this care is so important. 

My dream is that every Indigenous community in Canada has access to an Indigenous midwife from the community.

What do you wish more people knew about Indigenous Midwifery?

That Indigenous Midwifery is safe, excellent healthcare. Really, it's the same misconceptions about midwifery care in general. Also, that clients have a choice of birthplace — hospital, home births and birth centres are all available. Most clients come to the city for birth, but for some, giving birth on the Nation is important, and we can travel to them.

What does inclusive midwifery mean to you?

Care without barriers. Those could be practical – like transportation barriers, so we'll do home visits. It could be helping with resources like food and medications. And it's trauma-informed care, which means we're recognizing the impacts of trauma, and we aren't re-traumatizing people through their care.

How can allies better support Indigenous midwives and the communities they serve?

In my opinion, if an Indigenous person applies for midwifery care, a non-Indigenous midwife should ensure that they let that person know that Indigenous midwives are available and then leave the choice up to the individual. 

It's also about respecting people with where they're at and trusting that they are doing the best with the tools they have. Some families need support with accessing things like food and transportation. Many Indigenous families could benefit from more community and relationships with non-Indigenous families.  

And just advocating for the growth of Indigenous Midwifery — birth is healing — so supporting the growth of Indigenous Midwifery is so important; that's reconciliation.

How does restoring Indigenous Midwifery contribute to the process of reconciliation?

It's Nation-building! We're growing our Nations, and we're healing our Nations through this work.  

Babies are precious in Indigenous communities, and the community plays such an important role — aunties, elders — it's really important for young people to have those relationships. Midwifery respects the values of Indigenous communities, and with Indigenous midwives, people don't have to explain where they're coming from; they are already understood because they have that common worldview. It's things like, what language do you want your baby to hear first when they're born, what ceremonies do you want to do around your birth? Indigenous midwives know about these things. Of course, we don't know everything, and every Nation is unique, but that shared groundwork is so important — they know there is understanding and respect. 

Colonization has done so much harm, both to Indigenous people and colonizers, and there's so much loss that comes along with that. Indigenous midwives work with people to help them regain something that is important to them and that can help heal intergenerational trauma. When people feel respected, heard, and like they have agency, it's healing. 

Residential schools decimated Indigenous communities in so many ways, and many people that are now having babies may have had difficult relationships with their parents who are Residential Schools survivors because so much damage was done. They didn't necessarily learn how to parent because that was taken away from them. Care from an Indigenous midwife can break cycles of trauma. Working with someone that respects them empowers people and helps give them the strength to forge their own path as parents. Pregnancy is a time when people are motivated to make positive changes in their lives, and we can work with them to support that momentum. I feel lucky to be part of this work.

Where can Indigenous birthing people go for more support?

There are resources in Calgary, though they can be hard to access if you have transportation barriers. Elbow River Healing Lodge is an excellent resource for urban Indigenous folks that I highly recommend. They offer wraparound care and emotional and spiritual healing. I also wish all Indigenous birthing people knew that Juniper exists! There are also a number of non-profit organizations, and Mount Royal University, University of Calgary and SAIT all offer Indigenous student supports.

Finish this sentence: My most incredible birth experience was ________.

The very first birth I attended as a student! I felt unsure, maybe like a bit of a fraud. It was in Calgary at Foothills Hospital, and I found out that was where my father was born (he passed away ten years ago). So being there, where my father was born, for my first birth as a midwife felt full circle; it felt like I had the support of my ancestors. That's the feeling that you're on the right path.

The Alberta Association of Midwives promotes the growth and sustainability of midwives and midwifery services in Alberta. We tell the stories of midwives in our province so that the profession of midwifery is understood, respected and valued in our communities.

If you have a story to share about midwifery in Alberta, connect with us to be featured in a future blog post.