Federal committee on maternal mortality held at Mystic Lake this week

One Indigenous doctor told of losing a friend during her third trimester of pregnancy. An Indigenous state health director pointed out that improving maternal health systems for Native people could help others, too — just like building requirements designed to accommodate wheelchairs also help parents pushing strollers.

For the first time, a federal committee tackling the problem of infant mortality and mothers dying of childbirth complications met on tribal land in Prior Lake on Tuesday to hear directly from Indigenous people suffering some of the largest disparities.

Indigenous health care professionals told the federal Health and Human Services Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant and Maternal Mortality about community members dying during childbirth and mothers losing their babies before they turned a year old.

Nationally, infant mortality is 75% higher for Indigenous babies, and maternal mortality is twice as high for Indigenous women compared with white women, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

But the professionals also shared the work they are doing to combat those statistics in the American Indian community — such as creating health care workforce development programs, operating birthing centers and supporting those who are curious about traditional birthing practices.

The meeting, running through Thursday at Mystic Lake within the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, is being held to gather input from the Indigenous community.

The committee is trying to develop connections as they attempt to tackle the problem, which many Indigenous people feel white institutions and supremacy created.

Committee members include OBGYNs, nurses, midwives and other medical professionals working to decrease the disparity. The committee is tasked with preparing specific recommendations for Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who participated virtually.

The sole Indigenous committee member, Janelle Palacios, a nurse midwife from San Francisco, wiped tears from her eyes after hearing from Indigenous health care professionals. Their work helped lessen her own feelings of imposter syndrome around her role on the committee, she said.

"It's coming full circle for me … having our stories and aunties and sisters coming here and sharing all of the good medicine that you're bringing," Palacios told the committee and public. "Thank you very much for everything that you've all shared. You're making this … not just a meeting but a human connection, a cultural connection."

Noya Woodrich, director of the Child and Family Health Division at the Minnesota Department of Health, highlighted the recent first-ever Minnesota Maternal Mortality Report that showed an overall lower rate of maternal mortality compared with national numbers but a stark disparity among American Indian and Black Minnesotans.

"I'll tell you, it's been a long 30 years. Nothing's changed. In Minnesota, if we saved three Native babies a year, there would be no disparity," Woodrich said. "Why can't we save three? It's shameful."

Sessions were held on birth outcomes for Indigenous mothers and infants; tribal, state, and local challenges to improving Indigenous birth outcomes; and on doulas in prisons.

Marisa Miakonda Cummings, president of the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, acted as a doula for her sisters' 12 children before she even knew what a doula was. She believes funds that could allow for a return to traditional birthing practices would help reduce mortality rates.

Cummings said systemic racism is the root cause of these social determinants of health.

"All of these people on this committee and how many of them look like me? One looks like me, and they are on a committee making decisions about our women," Cummings said.

But speakers had varying opinions on what federal health organizations should be doing. Mistrust of federal organizations and persistent low levels of funding make it difficult to fund programs beyond a few months at a time, several speakers said.

Some want to see more Native representation on government committees and within the maternal health community — and more respect for those careers.

"Those of us on the ground doing the work in the community should be the ones that are forming policy decisions and telling them what we need," Cummings said.

Day two of the committee continues Wednesday at Mystic Lake and is open to the public before a final closed session for committee members Thursday.