Native American Initiatives - Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: the Montana Coalition

Email Amy
amy@hmhb-mt.org

Naha (Hello)!

Welcome to the site for Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies’ newest program- Native American Initiatives (NAI). My name is Amy Stiffarm and I manage the NAI Program. This program was created to continue the work initiated by the LIFTS in Indian Country project where HMHB worked with Tribal Communities across the state to build the Reservation-specific resources for the LIFTS Resource Guide. Building off of this work, HMHB has created the Native American Initiatives Program to support Native American families across the state.

The goal of this new program is to continue to build relationships with tribal stakeholders to form strong collaborative partnerships and alliances to support Native mothers, pregnant people, and babies, from pregnancy to age three. We look forward to working with you all to support mothers, those caring for young children, and pregnant people and ensure there is a safe and healthy beginning for all babies in Montana. I welcome any conversations on how to partner with you on better serving Native mothers, birthing people, and babies in your communities. Ginnehayan (thank you) for your time!

Amy Stiffarm, PhD, MPH, Aaniiih, Chippewa-Cree, Blackfeet

Our Team

Chelsea Bellon
Native American Initiatives Program Manager

Email Chelsea
chelsea@hmhb-mt.org

Chelsea Bellon (she/her) is a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, but she was raised in the San Poil Valley on the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington. Chelsea graduated in 2023 with a BA in Native American Studies from the University of Montana and will graduate with a Master of Public Health specializing in Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota in May 2025. Chelsea is passionate about serving Indigenous communities in the area of perinatal wellbeing, specifically through community-centered support during the postpartum period. Like many, Chelsea’s lived experience as a mother to three daughters has guided her work, and she is eager to serve families across Montana.

Diona Buck
Native American Initiatives Program Coordinator

Email Diona
diona@hmhb-mt.org

Diona is Nakoda from the Fort Belknap Tribe of Montana and a descendant of the Aaniiih Tribe (White Clay). Diona graduated from MSU-Northern in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion. She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health through the University of Montana’s online program. Diona is passionate about improving health outcomes in Indigenous communities, particularly in the area of perinatal health. She is grateful to be a part of HMHB and to support partners and families across Montana.

Our Projects

A Strategy To Support Perinatal Mental Health By Collaborating With Tribal Communities In Montana

Staff at Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies – The Montana Coalition (HMHB) authored an article that featured in the esteemed national publication, Health Affairs, in their April 2024 issue on Perinatal Mental Health and Wellbeing. The article highlights work completed to include family-supporting resources on Reservations in Montana into the LIFTS Online Resource Guide. This project was completed in partnership with HMHB and Dr. Amy Stiffarm while she was a graduate student at the University of North Dakota in the Indigenous Health Program.

LEARN MORE about the Health Affairs Article

Among Indigenous women and birthing people, reported rates of perinatal mental health complications are consistently higher than in the general US population. However, perinatal mental health programs and interventions tend to focus on the general population and do not account for the unique experiences and worldviews of Indigenous Peoples. We highlight a collaborative strategy employed by a Montana nonprofit to engage Tribal communities in completing a statewide online resource guide designed to help pregnant and parenting families find resources, including mental health and substance use treatment options, within and beyond their local communities. Based on this strategy, cultural resources relevant to Tribal communities were added to the resource guide. Agencies committed to addressing perinatal mental health disparities among Indigenous populations should consider similar strategies to share power with Tribal communities and collaboratively create culturally congruent programs and interventions.

Read the Article

Cultural Safety for Indigenous Mothers and Birthing People

In 2023, a cultural safety toolkit was created for those who provide care or work with families during the perinatal period. We are in the process of designing a toolkit that is more reader-friendly. In the meantime you may access the toolkit content created by Dr. Amy Stiffarm, for her dissertation work.

DOWNLOAD TOOLKIT: Cultural Safety for Indigenous Mothers and Birthing People

Since the summer of 2023, we have been offering cultural safety trainings for perinatal providers. We’ve done this over zoom and in-person. The cost depends on the amount of time and how in depth you would like your training to be. See below for more information. Please contact us at amy@hmhb-mt.org if you are interested in bringing a training to your community.

Cultural safety seeks to achieve better care through improving the awareness of power relationships, implementing reflective practice, and by allowing the patient to determine whether a clinical encounter is safe (Curtis, 2019). Continuous critical reflection and commitment to addressing power imbalances experienced by oppressed people are ways to promote cultural safety (Hall et al., 2023). The overall goal of this training is to better inform providers on how to provide culturally safe care to Indigenous patients and clients during the perinatal period. Due to systematic education issues that fail to properly acknowledge non-dominant cultures, many people lack foundational knowledge about the Indigenous populations in Montana. We cannot address perinatal health issues until we are fully informed on the circumstances that created the environment for significant health inequities to occur. Even more important for Indigenous perinatal health is the cultural knowledge and strengths that are relevant to pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. This training will provide information on crucial historical and cultural contexts in relation to the tenets of cultural safety.

Indigenous Birth Preference Guides

These Indigenous Perinatal Preference Guides were created by lived experts—mothers, aunties, Birthworkers, and nurses. It is crucial for Indigenous birthing patients to feel empowered, informed, and culturally safe when sharing their preferences, goals, and support systems with their providers. Equally important is for providers to share these guides with their Indigenous patients, fostering a respectful and collaborative space for learning and connection with patients and their support systems.

Want to print your own brochures?
Download the printable PDF to print at your desk or through a professional printing service.

Want to support Montana communities?
Partner with HMHB-MT to help cover the cost of distributing these brochures to communities across the state. Contact Chelsea Bellon (chelsea@hmhb-mt.org) for more information.

DOWNLOAD INDIGENOUS BIRTH PREFERENCE GUIDES

Birth Education Preference Sheet

We recommend starting here! This education sheet will explain the considerations and levels of empowerment to consider when building your preferences guides.

Birth Preference Guide

This preference guide will support your planning for labor, including pain management and comfort accommodations.

Father & Partner Guide

This preference guide provides education to partners while also providing considerations for a comfortable stay to ensure a culturally supportive space.

Birthing Facility & Diaper Bag Guide

This guide supports the planning for both the birthing person and their partner/support to ensure familiarity of hospital offerings and what baby needs.

Post Delivery Preference Guide

This guide captures the moments after baby comes earth side to ensure cultural practices are respected in recovery rooms and as baby is welcomed by family and community.

Postpartum Support Guide

This guide supports the planning of life after the hospital and how community can support.

Safety Plan Guide

In the instance that you experience mental health struggles in the postpartum period or throughout any portion of pregnancy/birth/healing, please consider utilizing this safety plan, or one that is similar.

Loss/Bereavement Guide

Experiencing a loss must be cared for in the most respectful and honorable manner. This guide will support the specific needs to begin healing.

Indigenous Birth Preference Guides Brochure

For Providers: This brochure features QR codes that connect patients to a comprehensive collection of Indigenous perinatal preference guides and educational resources, empowering the support of traditional practices.

LIFTS in Indian Country

The LIFTS (Linking Infants and Families to Supports) Resource Guide is an online resource for Montana families state-wide. In the building phase of the guide, HMHB hired an Indigenous person with experience in maternal child health to lead efforts in including Reservation Communities in Montana within the LIFTS Resource Guide.

LEARN MORE about LIFTS in Indian Country

This was the start of the LIFTS in Indian Country Project. The first year of the project involved collecting information on resources for each of the communities. The second year we held meetings virtually with each reservation. These meetings initiated relationships and the conversations led to the creation of the ‘Native Cultural Connections’ resource category. Please check the LIFTS Resource Guide and see if your program is included. You can add your program as well as events right on the site!

Visit LIFTS in Indian Country