The Changing Experience of Child-bearing in the N.W.T.

Prepared for the N.W.T. Native Women's Association by Leslie Paulette

The Traditional Experience

Prior to the arrival of doctors, nurses, nursing stations, and hospitals in the North, when aboriginal people lived in a traditional way, childbirth and child care were family centred experiences. Young women were taught by their mothers about their menstrual cycle, and about the roles and responsibilities of women, at the time of puberty. Mothers chaperoned their daughters carefully, and babies were rarely born to women who were not already partnered with a man who could provide for his family. Women married at a young age, often as a result of an arrangement made by their parents.

Following marriage, a young woman was also taught to recognize the early signs of pregnancy, such as the absence of menstrual periods. As soon as she discovered that she was pregnant, she was expected to tell her mother right away. In some regions, it was considered taboo to hide the fact of one's pregnancy, and was said to lead to a harder labour for the woman. As soon as her pregnancy was revealed, a young woman was counselled by her mother and other female elders about the right ways to look after herself and her baby.

Fort Rae elder

By the time a young woman was ready to give birth to her first baby, she was usually already acquainted with childbirth firsthand. Young married women were encouraged to attend the births of others, so that they might learn by observation and explanation from older, experienced women.

As the time for her baby's birth approached, the young mother prepared the things she would need. She gathered a good supply of moss for her baby and for herself. She sewed a moss bag and prepared a cord made from twisted fibres or sinew for tying off the baby's umbilical cord. She also made a pad of moss, sometimes covered with fabric, to position under herself at the time of the baby's birth. Finally, she would go out into the bush and cut a dry pole to have ready as a cross-bar on which she could lean for support during labour and delivery. In all her preparations, she might be assisted by her sisters or friends.

When the mother went into labour, the news spread quickly to others in the camp or the village, and soon she was surrounded and supported by other women. Her mother, grandmother, sisters, and friends might all be there, taking turns walking with her, rubbing her back, and supporting her during contractions. Almost always, her husband was there with her, unless he was out hunting or checking traps at the time and could not be contacted.

Particularly in the days when people lived in small family camps in the bush all year round, it was common for the father to take a very active role in the birth. And, sometimes, when birth took place on the trail, a woman's husband was her only midwife.

In most communities, there was at least one woman who was recognized as an experienced birth attendant, or midwife. She might have acquired her skills as an apprentice, alongside her own mother or grandmother. Or she might have demonstrated a special interest in or aptitude for midwifery at a young age, and learned from experience as a result of attending, with enthusiasm, as many births as she could.

A midwife would be called on by the family to come and help, especially if the labour seemed long or difficult. She offered her skill, her experience, and her reassuring presence. Sometimes, she also brought with her herbal medicines that helped the labouring woman along.

Usually, labour and delivery were normal, and minor complications were handled as they arose by the midwife and the attending relatives. The mother was encouraged to be up and walking during labour. As labour became really active, and the time of birth approached, the mother assumed a squatting or kneeling position. The dry pole, lashed across two upright poles, or hung by two ropes from the ceiling like a swing, provided a cross" bar on which she could lean.

As the baby's head began to deliver, someone prepared to catch the baby from behind or in front. Rarely was it required to deliver the head, and tears to the mother were unheard of. The baby was given directly to the mother, while the placenta was delivered and the cord cut. Different people in different regions observed their own particular customs regarding the disposal of the afterbirth, but it was never disposed of casually. It might be wrapped in a bundle and placed in a tree, burned in the fire, or else preserved and dried to make a particularly potent medicine for treating sickness; the placenta was respected for its power and its special relationship to the child. Likewise, the stump of the umbilical cord, when it dried up and fell off, was kept or disposed of in a ritual manner. Even the amniotic fluid, when the bag of water broke, was regarded by some people as blessed water that was beneficial to anyone who touched it.

Following the birth of her child, the young mother, especially the first-time mother, was counselled in the art of motherhood and child care by her relatives and more experienced friends. Children were breastfed, sometimes for as long as two or three years. This served as a natural form of family planning, often resulting in several years spacing between children. Every woman had her own particular way of rearing and caring for her children, so the new mother would take from these offerings that which would be useful to her.

The elders interviewed recalled very few serious complications among the births in which they had participated. They pointed out that the traditional lifestyle was hard and strenuous, but that people were vigorous and healthy. Also, their diet was comprised chiefly of natural foods from the land. These factors, they maintain, contributed to the ease with which they gave birth, and to the general good health of mothers and their infants.

There were, however, occasions when serious complications arose, and birth attendants had to deal with them as best they could. Most of these problems occurred in the third stage of labour, that is, the delivery of the placenta. Several accounts were related of retained placentas that had to be removed, either manually or by cord traction. One elder recalled how she had stayed with a woman for two days and nights until she was able to remove the retained placenta and control the bleeding. She later reamed that the same woman died after a subsequent birth as a result of a similar complication. In one story told by the women of Fort Rae, a woman suffered a prolapsed uterus a month or so after the birth of her child, and was nursed by the other women in camp who used hot compresses and massage until the condition corrected itself.

One woman in Fort Franklin recalled the breech birth of her daughter, following an unusually long and difficult labour. Another explained how she and a group of other birth attendants had worked successfully to do an external version, turning a baby from a transverse position to a vertex position so that it could be born:

In times of really serious birth complications, the aid of a medicine man was sometimes sought. Medicine and prayers and the faith of all in attendance were credited with saving the lives of more than one mother and child. There were cases, however, where it seemed that nothing could be done. Such was the story of the death of a baby, resulting from apparent shoulder dystocia. In such circumstances, the grief of the family was shared by the entire community.

Childbirth was indeed an experience that brought members of the family and the community together in a unique and very intimate way. The elders suggested that in the days when families gave birth together in this way, the bonds between family members were stronger than they are today. In particular, men seemed to have a different kind of appreciation for their wives, and a closer relationship to their children. The elders spoke fondly and with enthusiasm about their experiences, and explained that the act of helping another woman in childbirth was considered to be God's work, an honour and privilege to perform. Thus, women caring for one another had a spiritual dimension as well as a purely practical dimension. It was with sadness and regret that the elders noted that in today's scheme of things, there seems to be no room for native women to help each other in this way anymore.

Leslie Paulette, a Dene woman, lives in Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta and is a consultant working with the N.W.T. Native Women's Association.