Women’s Health

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women are pillars in Tribal communities as life givers, culture bearers, and caretakers of homelands. Holding the power to bring life into this world is a highly valued and sacred tradition in Indian Country that is surrounded by cultural importance, knowledge, and good medicine. As keepers of traditions and customs in many Tribes, mothers hold distinct roles of nourishing, teaching, and leading their families as matriarchs. Native women, across all Tribal nations, have the fundamental and equal right to have healthy birth experiences and the right to quality care before, during, and after pregnancy and childbirth.

Losing a woman during or after their pregnancy is traumatizing for families and communities, and AI/AN populations face a disproportionate maternal morbidity and mortality burden. For every 100,000 live births to AI/AN women, there were 32 deaths related to pregnancy from 2017 to 2019. AI/AN women were nearly 2.3 times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than non-Hispanic White women. Research has shown that approximately 60% of maternal deaths in the U.S. are preventable, and AI/AN maternal morbidity and mortality rates highlight the larger health risks that people of color and rural residents face compared to their non-Hispanic white and urban counterparts.