Birth outcomes in the Inuit-inhabited areas of Canada

Canadian Indigenous Womens Perspectives of Maternal Health and Health Care Services: A Systematic Review

“…Complications in pregnancy and childbirth, such as hemorrhage, infections, high blood pressure, ectopic pregnancy, preterm birth, unsafe abortion and obstructed labor, are recognized as threats to maternal health 1 while factors such as access to family planning services, counseling, and appropriate antenatal, obstetric, and postpartum care are identified as being positive contributing factors to maternal health There are, however, notable differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians for many indicators of maternal health; Indigenous women in Canada have a two times higher risk of maternal mortality in comparison to the general Canadian population [4][5][6] .…”

“…Indigenous women also experience higher rates of adverse outcomes including stillbirth and perinatal death, and, in some cases, low-birth-weight infants, prematurity and infant death [4][5][6] . While Inuit women of childbearing age experience higher rates of low-birth-weight babies, First Nations and Métis women experience elevated incidences of both low-and high-birthweight babies compared to the general Canadian population; these can have adverse implications for the babies' health [4][5][6][7][8][9] .…”

“…While Inuit women of childbearing age experience higher rates of low-birth-weight babies, First Nations and Métis women experience elevated incidences of both low-and high-birthweight babies compared to the general Canadian population; these can have adverse implications for the babies' health [4][5][6][7][8][9] . Nunavut (NU), the Northwest Territories (NT) and Yukon are located in northern Canada and have the highest percentage of the population identifying as Indigenous compared to other Canadian provinces and territories 10 .…”

Association of macrosomia with perinatal and postneonatal mortality among First Nations people in Quebec

“…1 8 By design, the study excluded births to women with an Inuit mother tongue (92% of self-identified Inuit in Quebec reported Inuktitut or Inuit language as their mother tongue, according to the 2001 census), a population known to have much higher perinatal and postneonatal mortality compared to nonAboriginal populations. 18,19 We used data for the period of 1991 to 2000 because they were the most recent linked data available at the time the study protocol was approved by the research ethics board and because the linked vital records of more recent years do not allow for identification of First Nations women reporting multiple mother tongues (i.e., French or English plus an Aboriginal language becomes French or English plus other).…”

“…18 However, the elevated risk for postneonatal mortality (RR = 3.9) was smaller than that for births in Inuit-inhabited versus other areas of Canada (RR = 6.2). 19 How such disparities in mortality may differ for infants with poor or excessive fetal growth has not been explored. Our results show that elevation of risk varied substantially by fetal growth.…”