Impact Story
Food and birth are among the first teachers we encounter in life. For Native peoples, food and birth are inseparable threads in the fabric of community health. First Nations’ First Foods and Maternal Health project was created with the understanding that reclaiming birth practices and strengthening food sovereignty are both essential to restoring balance, wellness, and self-determination in Native communities.
From its inception, this project has focused on supporting Native-led solutions. The project recognizes that Native community practitioners, including doulas, midwives, lactation specialists, nutritionists and dieticians, seedkeepers, food producers, and distributors, are already building networks of care, often with limited resources. Their work is grounded in ancestral knowledge and the conviction that our peoples have always known how to care for mothers, babies, and families.
First Nations’ role has been to amplify, resource, and connect these efforts so they can thrive and reach more families.
Uplifting communities
In its early years, the First Foods and Maternal Health project centered around relationship-building and listening. Birthworkers and food sovereignty leaders shared stories of how ceremonies, traditional diets, and extended kinship networks are being revitalized to support new parents and children. They also voiced common challenges: a lack of consistent funding, difficulty accessing training and certification rooted in Native knowledge, and barriers to integrating cultural practices into mainstream health and food systems.
In response, First Nations evolved the project to have a grantmaking approach that is practitioner-led and culturally informed. Rather than imposing outside solutions, First Nations’ financial support is guided by the wisdom of community leaders. This focus helps ensure resources reach those most directly connected to families on the ground. It also lays the foundation for a broader ecosystem of support, in which food sovereignty and maternal health are recognized not as separate fields, but as interwoven paths to wellness.
Today, the program supports a diverse network of community partners across the country who are advancing food and birth justice in their own ways. Some are cultivating traditional first foods and teaching families how to prepare for nourishing pregnancies and postpartum care. Others are training doulas and midwives to provide culturally grounded support during labor, birth, and the critical early months of children’s lives. Still, others are focusing on advocacy and narrative change, shifting how Native maternal health is understood and represented in broader society.
A central aim of the program is to strengthen these connections. By bringing together food sovereignty leaders and maternal health practitioners, the program fosters dialogue across disciplines and regions. Convenings, peer-learning exchanges, and collaborative projects help leaders learn from one another and amplify their impact.
First Foods and Maternal Health community partners share insights at First Nations’ 2024 Food Sovereignty Summit.
Among the program’s inspiring partners is the Alaska Native Birthworkers Community (ANBC). Rooted in the vision of reclaiming and revitalizing ancestral birth practices, ANBC provides culturally grounded care through direct services to Native birthing families and training, and capacity-building opportunities for Indigenous birthworkers. With support from First Nations, ANBC is expanding opportunities for families to access Native-led care that is culturally affirming and community-centered, as well as designing and implementing educational and community engagement events for Native birthing families and birthworkers. The organization’s story reflects the heart of the program’s mission: investing in Native community-led solutions that honor the past, while building healthier futures.
Investing in the future
As First Nations plans for the future of the First Foods and Maternal Health project, we remain committed to centering community voices, values, and leadership. Our priorities for the coming years focus on supporting Native-led organizations and community partners who provide direct services to families and birthworkers:
- We will continue to ground our approach in the knowledge and direction of Native communities, ensuring that community partners shape and lead program design.
- We will also support the visibility of cultural birth and milk medicine practices through education, ceremony, and community celebration by investing in the training and employment of Native doulas, midwives, and lactation counselors. These practitioners, working within their own communities, provide care rooted in cultural values and Native ways of knowing.
- We will strengthen partnerships with organizations that reclaim first foods and prenatal nutrition, supporting them as they educate families about ancestral foods and their role in infant development and maternal health. Through collaborations with local growers, foragers, and food sovereignty initiatives, these partners increase access to traditional foods for babies, young children, and new parents.
- Finally, we will expand access and capacity by working with Native-led organizations to develop culturally relevant resources and peer-support tools for prenatal and postnatal nutrition, milk medicine, and early childhood food practices. At the same time, we will help build the infrastructure of these organizations through workforce development, technical assistance, and strategies for sustainable funding.
As we reflect on the journey from past to present, one theme is clear: Change happens when communities are resourced to lead their own solutions. Through the First Foods and Maternal Health program, First Nations will continue walking alongside practitioners, organizations, and families that are doing this transformative work.
Together, we are weaving a future where mothers and babies are cared for, where first foods are protected and shared, and where ancestral teachings guide us forward.
