In this episode of the Tribal Health Podcast, we speak to game-changing Indigenous midwife Nicolle Gonzales (Navajo), BSN, RN, MSN, CNM. As executive director and founder of the Changing Woman Initiative, Nicolle is leading a movement to reincorporate traditional birthing practices into Indigenous communities once more.
Native American maternal health is impacted by racial discrimination, food insecurity, and lack of obstetrical and gynecological resources. The medical industry has a history of sterilizing Indigenous women without consent, which can lead to distrust; non-Native hospitals may ignore women's requests to include Tribal traditions in their birth experience. For a variety of reasons, Native women are three to four times more likely than white women to die of complications related to pregnancy and/or childbirth.
These factors inspired Gonzales to blend Indigenous midwifery and ancestral birth practices with modern prenatal and birth care. She talked to us about her nonprofit’s work with maternal health and indigenous midwifery, as well as the policy work and activism that's driving long overdue change in maternal health for women of color.
Tune in to learn how Nicolle and CWI are transforming Indigenous communities by helping women have the positive and traditional birth experience they've always wanted.