Returning ʻŌiwi Birthing Practices to Hospitals in Hawaiʻi

Abstract

ʻŌiwi birthing practices are intimate relationships between family, community, and the environment. They support the physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental health of the whole family. In the Hawaiian Kingdom, with the introduction of institutionalized birth, Queen Kapiʻolani hybridized Euro-American birth practices with ʻŌiwi ones. Over time, with the changing of political leadership and the devaluation of traditional knowledge, ʻŌiwi birth practices have become virtually unknown to many. As Native Hawaiians today disproportionately experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, the authors advocate for and outline how returning to ancestral and historical ʻŌiwi birthing practices in hospitals could improve ʻŌiwi maternal and neonatal health.