Health Poverty Action works with indigenous communities and other cultural minorities around the world to improve the health of pregnant women and mothers. You can read about our work training Traditional Birth Attendants in Ethiopia, and the work we’re doing to help indigenous communities speak out for their right to health in Cambodia, as well as reading the stories of our work in Peru and Nicaragua below.
Indigenous birthing practices: Peru
In the Santillana district of Ayacucho in Peru we found that cultural barriers such as health workers not speaking Quechua – the indigeous language, husbands being prevented from entering the delivery room and women being made to give birth lying down were preventing pregnant indigneous women from using health clinics. In fact, in 1999 only 6% of births in the Santillana district took place at a health clinic.
Working with the indigenous communities a concerted effort was made to change the delivery services in this area. This included ensuring health workers spoke Quechua, letting relatives attend the birth, setting up vertical birthing facilities so women could stand or squat, and making other changes based on indigenous traditions.
By 2007, 83% of births were taking place at the clinic. A report from the World Health Organisation in 2009 reported that the project in Ayacucho demonstrated how indigenous women with little formal education do want professional help giving birth, and will use it if they are treated with respect at clinics.
Indigenous maternal health in Nicaragua
In Nicaragua we identified that the current health system did not adequately take into consideration the indigenous people’s health needs that we work with. We are now ensuring their needs are heard and accordingly we are working to create a more culturally appropriate health care system model.
Florence Levy, Health Poverty Action’s Country Director for Nicaragua explains our work in this area:
“We are working hard to establish a health system model which addresses indigenous people’s real needs. For example we’re introducing a model for safe motherhood which is appropriate to the indigenous population. We went to the people. we asked them how they wanted to be attended and prepared guidelines for antenatal care and birth attendance for Traditional Birth Attendants and health committees”
Last modified: 28/11/2011
