

Whilst having very little knowledge or contact with indigenous people, I felt STRONGLY that by my method of birth, I was returning to something profoundly lost to our Western “civilisation”, something indigenous tribes have been deeply steeped in (yet also their youth have lost their connection to it).   I haven’t spoken of this to anyone because who am I to speak for other cultures (and I wouldn’t want to be in a position of cultural appropriation), but I definitely felt I was bridging awareness of two vastly different approaches to birth.  This and the fact that it is actually safer for these women and communities and creates better outcomes than removing mothers “from the land” is potent.  I feel passionate about creating awareness that birth is not without risk, whether in a hospital or at home.  These Inuit women empowered themselves to embrace that risk and accept that there will always be unfavourable outcomes, however they lowered those negative outcomes by choosing self-knowledge over fear of safety.