In this episode I talk with Danette Jubinville (she/her/hers), who belongs to the Cyr family from the Pasqua First Nation. Her ancestry is Cree, Saulteaux, and mixed European. She is a single mom, one of the founding members of the Ekw’í7tl Doula Collective, a PhD student, and a health researcher. Our conversation was really great and I hope you enjoy listening to it!
In this episode Danette and I talk about:
- The circumstances around her pregnancy that made it challenging, and the supports she had that helped
- How and why she sought out culturally safe care during pregnancy
- Finding support from trusted Elders and how meaningful that has been for her family
- Her birth story – and what it was like to attempt a home birth in the midst of a wind storm and power outage
- How her birth set the tone for her early postpartum experience
- Journeying through her daughter having jaundice
- The challenges they had with breastfeeding in the early days
- What she would do differently in hindsight
- The importance of good nutrition in healing after giving birth – and what many Indigenous traditions recommend as healing foods in the postpartum time
- Experiencing Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER) – what it felt like and what helped
- How Indigenous methods of parenting helped Danette and her little one bond
- Her journey of cultural reclamation and learning about her Indigenous identity
- The challenge of finding culturally safe care in a health care system that is geared towards white, middle class, and heteronormative families
- The beginnings of the Ekw’í7tl Doula Collective
- The challenges of sustaining doula work when serving a marginalized population
- What a full spectrum or full circle doula is and does
- Why the term ‘harm reduction’ applies to the work that Indigenous Doulas do when serving Indigenous families in the perinatal health care system
- The policy of routine evacuation of pregnant people from rural and remote Indigenous communities and why this is harmful to Indigenous families and communities
- The barriers Indigenous doulas face in providing culturally safe care to Indigenous families
- How important it was to connect with friends who had been through similar situations
- The struggle to shift away from the ‘survival mode’ of early parenthood
- The importance of Ceremony and ritual in helping to move through transitions
- What she would say to her younger self when she was struggling the most
- Why she wouldn’t go back in time and change the way her pregnancy, birth, and postpartum unfolded
- The meaning of the name ekw’í7tl and how they got their name
Resources:
- Doulas for Aboriginal Families Grant Program
- Ekw’í7tl Doula Collective
- Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Center Association – Perinatal Support
- D-MER.org
Related Episodes:
- Ep. 3 – Miranda’s Story and the Importance of Spiritual and Cultural Practices
- Ep. 4 – The downsides of over-researching with Zoe
