Treiva Plamondon is changing the way Indigenous women in the Northwest Territories experience childbirth.

This year, the 24-year-old from Hay River became a full-time birthworker with the 快盈v3 Birthworkers Cooperative. She offers culturally sensitive support to Indigenous women before, during and after their pregnancies.

鈥淲ith my full-time job now, I have the capacity to spend more time with these people and kind of adjust their care to what they need more than what鈥檚 convenient for me,鈥� she said from Yellowknife, where she provides her services to women from across the territory.

Plamondon, who is M茅tis, said she has been fascinated by birth since she was a young girl. She credits her early interest in the subject to the Alaskan malamutes that her grandmother bred when she was growing up. She recalls being filled with curiosity whenever one of the large dogs had a litter.

鈥淚 never really thought of it until recently, about where my interest came from, but I really think that was my first memory of being interested in this kind of work,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like it was just something that was just always a part of me.鈥�

Plamondon got her first hands-on experience in Grade 12, when she began shadowing the midwives who had recently returned to Hay River. It was under the tutelage of those midwives that she witnessed childbirth for the first time.

鈥淲hen I found out that Hay River was getting midwives, I took that as an opportunity to reach out to them and ask if I can learn from them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were new and developing their program still, but they took time to allow me to shadow them.

鈥淲ith the consent of parents, they asked if I could join in on some of their prenatal appointments and postpartum appointments, and then eventually there was two families that allowed me into their actual birth room as they were giving birth when I was in high school, in grade 12 in 2017. That鈥檚 really where it started, just shadowing the midwives in Hay River and then kind of just like falling into the role as a support person.鈥�

Plamondon aims to become a midwife one day, but in the meantime will provide another very important type of a service as a birthworker. Birthworkers, also known as doulas, are are trained professionals who support families and individuals during pregnancy, birth and postpartum by providing emotional, physical and informational support. They also provide support in situations involving abortion and miscarriage.

鈥橳rust our bodies鈥�

Plamondon鈥檚 services are tailored specifically to Indigenous women in the territory, who she said must contend with factors like generational trauma and a lack of resources in addition to the usual challenges of pregnancy.

鈥淓ven living in Hay river, we have a lack of resources and it鈥檚 one of the larger communities in the Northwest Territories,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 still learning traditions and things, and I think we鈥檙e all on our own little journey, but I want to help families connect to traditions and ceremonies for birth throughout their reproductive care. There鈥檚 so many things that our ancestors used to do that aren鈥檛 practised today.鈥�

Plamondon loves her work, but admits there are some difficult aspects to the job, which requires her to be on-call for her clients over a period of up to 38 weeks.

She has yet to experience loss in her role, but recognizes that it may happen, and that it will be 鈥渁 really hard experience.鈥�

鈥淭hese people need support and I鈥檓 ready to support them if they need that,鈥� she said.

Humble about the impact of her work, Plamondon acknowledged that she gets 鈥渞eally good feedback鈥� from the parents she works with. She said that when she encounters them in other contexts, they鈥檙e often eager to provide updates about their children, and some have even asked her to help out when they next have children.

She hopes to continue effecting positive change in the NWT medical industry until, one day, women can more easily give birth in small communities, without having to travel to larger centres, such as Hay River and Yellowknife, for care.

鈥淔or many years, women birthed on the land and whether it was in the middle of the ice or in a teepee as they were travelling to their next camp, women did it and there was no worries about their births,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e created this worrisomeness about birth, and we鈥檝e made it so medicalized, it鈥檚 as though it鈥檚 a disease, but it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 a natural process and we鈥檝e been doing it like everywhere. The whole world鈥檚 been doing it forever.

鈥淲e鈥檝e forgotten to trust our bodies and I really hope that that, one day, we can have people birthing in their communities again.鈥�