Alberta Health Services announced a new initiative Friday that aims to address growing maternal health needs among indigenous woman in three northern and central Alberta communities, including Edmonton.
AHS said it is partnering with the pharmaceutical company Merck Canada and Alberta Innovates, a provincially-funded corporation, to provide improved housing, post-birth health care and overall care for indigenous mothers.
“There are pockets of disenfranchised populations here,” said Naveen Rao, who leads Merck for Mothers. “Specifically, we’re talking about aboriginal women.”
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According to Rao, the initiative involves a four-pronged approach: acknowledging the scope of the problem, implementing culturally-sensitive programs that address medical issues as well as cultural issues, food security and education. Then, the idea is to compile data required to better assess where there are gaps in care.
The initiative will target indigenous women in Edmonton, Maskwacis and the Little Red River Cree Nation.
For Edmonton, AHS announced support for the inner-city’s Pregnancy Pathways program, which aims to provide housing and support for women struggling with either addictions, mental health issues or homelessness. The Pathways program, which is the brainchild of the Boyle McCauley Health Centre, hopes to open apartment-type accommodations for 12 to 15 women sometime this spring and eventually provide housing for more than 100 women.
In Maskwacis and on the Little Red River Cree Nation, the initiative will see midwives receive increased training for providing care for mothers immediately following childbirth. A plan will also be put in place to teach women how to receive proper nutrition as well as how to garden and cook in order to live off of the land.
Dr. Verna Yiu, AHS’ president and CEO, said the cooperation with the indigenous communities involved is essential.
“The biggest difference to me is that the communities are actually inviting us in to work with them and without that invitation, no matter how much money you put in … we would get nowhere.
“We actually have been struggling with providing optimal care for indigenous women … so this gives us a huge opportunity to really make a difference,” Yiu added.
According to AHS, Alberta’s indigenous population – which is approximately 220,000 – has a far higher perinatal mortality rate than Alberta’s non-indigenous population. AHS says the rate is 7.1 per 1,000 among indigenous mothers compared to 4.1 per 1,000 for non-indigenous mothers. The World Health Organization defines the the perinatal period as beginning at 22 completed weeks of gestation and ending seven completed days after birth.
According to AHS, the initiative will receive a $1 million grant from Merck Canada.