IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i12p7088-d835046.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

American Indian Motherhood and Historical Trauma: Keetoowah Experiences of Becoming Mothers

Author

Listed:
  • December Maxwell

    (Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA)

  • Rebecca Mauldin

    (School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA)

  • Johanna Thomas

    (School of Social Work, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA)

  • Victoria Holland

    (United Keetoowah Band, Tahlequahd, OK 74465, USA)

Abstract

Background: American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) women disproportionally experience postpartum depression in the United States as compared to the rest of the population. Despite being disproportionately represented, the current body of knowledge lacks research on depression in this particular population. Specifically, the current literature lacks research pertaining to the experiences of postpartum AI/AN women, their culture, birthing and mothering expectations, and trauma. This qualitative study used the theories of becoming a mother, historical-trauma framework, and reproductive justice as they relate to Indigenous women’s personal and historical trauma to assess their lived experiences of becoming a mother. Methods: Keetoowah mothers ( N = 8) were interviewed by using a story inquiry method to understand the perinatal experiences of members of one Indigenous tribe in the US. Findings: The story inquiry coding resulted in two main themes, namely maternal mental health challenges and inadequacies of perinatal care. Conclusion: The subthemes illuminate the intersection of historical trauma and the perinatal experience, continued colonization of mothering, and the resilience of tribal culture during the postpartum period. Implications include advocacy for increasing culturally derived perinatal interventions, increased healthcare coverage of culturally appropriate birthing practices, and future research evaluating the correlation between historical trauma and maternal mental health challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • December Maxwell & Rebecca Mauldin & Johanna Thomas & Victoria Holland, 2022. "American Indian Motherhood and Historical Trauma: Keetoowah Experiences of Becoming Mothers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-20, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7088-:d:835046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7088/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7088/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evans-Campbell, T. & Lindhorst, T. & Huang, B. & Walters, K.L., 2006. "Interpersonal violence in the lives of urban American Indian and Alaska Native women: Implications for health, mental health, and help-seeking," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(8), pages 1416-1422.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Palimaru, Alina I. & Dong, Lu & Brown, Ryan A. & D'Amico, Elizabeth J. & Dickerson, Daniel L. & Johnson, Carrie L. & Troxel, Wendy M., 2022. "Mental health, family functioning, and sleep in cultural context among American Indian/Alaska Native urban youth: A mixed methods analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    2. For the Cedar Project Partnership & Pearce, Margo E. & Christian, Wayne M. & Patterson, Katharina & Norris, Kat & Moniruzzaman, Akm & Craib, Kevin J.P. & Schechter, Martin T. & Spittal, Patricia M., 2008. "The Cedar Project: Historical trauma, sexual abuse and HIV risk among young Aboriginal people who use injection and non-injection drugs in two Canadian cities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2185-2194, June.
    3. Ilana Allice & Anita Acai & Ayda Ferdossifard & Christine Wekerle & Melissa Kimber, 2022. "Indigenous Cultural Safety in Recognizing and Responding to Family Violence: A Systematic Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-24, December.
    4. Frances M. Nilsen & Jessica Frank & Nicolle S. Tulve, 2020. "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Investigating the Relationship between Exposures to Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressors during Prenatal Development and Childhood Externalizing Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-32, March.
    5. Elias, Brenda & Mignone, Javier & Hall, Madelyn & Hong, Say P. & Hart, Lyna & Sareen, Jitender, 2012. "Trauma and suicide behaviour histories among a Canadian indigenous population: An empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada's residential school system," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1560-1569.
    6. Melissa E. Lewis & Hannah I. Volpert-Esmond & Jason F. Deen & Elizabeth Modde & Donald Warne, 2021. "Stress and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk for Indigenous Populations throughout the Lifespan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-24, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7088-:d:835046. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.