Indigenous Maternity Sharing Circles Registration

Project title

Exploring the Complex Contexts of Indigenous Maternal Child Health through an Indigenous Maternity Experiences Survey

Assistant Professor, Indigenous People’s Health
Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary
Phone: (403) 220-5813
Email: Jennifer.leason@ucalgary.ca

Research Supervisor | Chaneesa Ryan
Director of Health
Native Women’s Association of Canada
Phone: 343-997-2999
Email: cryan@nwac.ca

Research Coordinator | Jaisie Walker
Senior Researcher
Native Women’s Association of Canada
Phone: 613.854.4749
Email: jwalker@nwac.ca

Sponsor

Funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSRHC) New Frontiers in Research Fund: ID NFRFE-2018-01128

This consent form, a copy of which has been given to you, is only part of the process of informed consent. If you want more details about something mentioned here, or information not included here, you should feel free to ask. Please take the time to read this carefully and to understand any accompanying information.

The University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board has approved this research study.

Participation is completely voluntary, and confidential.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this project is to listen to Indigenous women, birth partner and community voices about their maternity experiences. We would like to hear about your experiences during prenatal care, labour and birth, and six months after your baby was born. The purpose is to identify what is important to you in order to improve or strengthen maternal and child wellness. The long-term goal of the research is to create maternity additional research, either through additional community engagement (talking circles) and/or an online survey.

By sharing your experiences, you will help:

• Identify needs, gaps, barriers, priorities and strengths related to Indigenous maternal and child health and wellness.
• Identify what is relevant to you and your community and ways to better support for Indigenous women, families and communities throughout their pregnancy and early months of parenting.
• Help identify and create a culturally and contextually relevant Indigenous maternity experiences survey.

What Will I Be Asked To Do?

We are inviting you to participate in a 3-hour online Zoom session (includes breaks) with 15 other participants from surrounding Indigenous communities. During the online session, you will be asked questions about your experiences during 1) prenatal care; 2) labour and birth; 3) six months after baby was born; 4) questions related to culture, strengths, and suggestions for improving maternal health care. You can ask questions, choose not to answer, take a break, or choose to leave, at any time.

Zoom sessions will be audio and video recorded and all of your answers will be transcribed so that the researchers can use our conversations to inform the creation of an Indigenous Maternity Experiences Survey.

Following the zoom sessions, the research team will be drafting an Indigenous Maternity Experiences Survey. If you interested in being contacted about follow-up participation, please indicate at the bottom of this consent form. Participation in the follow up is completely voluntary.

Participation is completely voluntary, that you may refuse to participate altogether, may refuse to participate in parts of the study, may decline to answer and or all questions, and may withdraw from the study at any time without consequence.

What Type of Personal Information Will Be Collected?

No personal identifying information will be collected in this study, and all participants shall remain anonymous unless you prefer to use your name (see checklist below).

Should you agree to participate, you will be asked to identify whether you are a birth parent, birth partner, family member, community member, elder, or health provider. You will also be asked to provide the first 3 digits of your postal code, your Indigenous identity, your age, your gender, how many children you have, and your overall health and wellbeing.

Are there Risks or Benefits if I Participate?

There are no anticipated risks to participating in this project. However, some of the questions might be sensitive in nature and involve questioning levels of care and other ethical issues related to providing care. Once registered, you will be sent list of community supports and resources in a separate document that you may access for additional support if needed.

• The decision to participate will not affect the health care you receive.
• Should you feel uncomfortable at any time, please know that you do not have to answer any question if you do not want to answer.
• You can withdraw your participation at any time.
• Should you decide to withdraw, it may be difficult to remove your answers from the recoding of the sharing circle. Therefore, your input may be included. However, if you identify one of your quotes and would like it removed, we will remove it immediately.
• Because this is an online session there is a risk of non-confidentiality. Because of this, please only share what you feel comfortable sharing.

You will receive a $150.00 cash honorarium for your participation, as well as $25 for you to cover the cost of a meal. Support with daycare costs is also available.

What Happens to the Information I Provide?

Several steps will be taken to protect your anonymity and confidentiality over the online platform; however, your anonymity is not guaranteed. Here are some important things for you to know:

During the virtual engagement session

• As a participant, you will be asked to sign below that you agree to confidentiality. This means that all information shared by other group participants remains private. This will ensure the respect and dignity of the group participants in order to establish trust with one another. Please be advised that this is an online session and that there is a risk of non-confidentiality. Therefore, please only share what you feel comfortable sharing.
• The session is private. Only users with a password can join.
• The session facilitator can prevent others from accessing our session, or disconnect attendees who are unwelcomed, breaking confidentiality, or causing harm.
• You have the option to turn off your video and/or audio at any time to remain private. If you do not wish to be identified by your voice you can type your answers.
• You can change your name to your pseudonym or an alternative name before you enter the session or at any time throughout
• You can choose to not answer a question or leave the session at any time

In research findings and publications

• All documents, transcriptions, notes and audio recordings will be encrypted and kept in a secure, locked location accessible only to the researcher and approved research assistants. Participant confidentiality and privacy will be ensured using researcher-created pseudonyms.
• Your confidentiality will be respected. You will not be identified by name in the notes, summary and/or publications unless directed otherwise. If you would like to share your name, rather than a pseudonym, please indicate your consent by checking the box that says “You may quote me and use my name” above. Otherwise, you will not be identified by name in any summaries, papers, and/or reports.
• All the answers from the session will be encrypted and kept on a password protected computer and in a locked filing cabinet and locked office.
• A copy of the research analysis and findings will be shared with you to provide additional feedback, clarity and/or removal of anything you do not wish to include in the dissemination. A copy of the research analysis and findings (with all identifiers removed) will also be shared with the other participants, organizations and stakeholders to support their initiatives pertaining to Indigenous maternal health.

Participants are free to withdraw at any time until the end of the research study (December 2022).

Questions/Concerns

If you have any further questions or want clarification regarding this research and/or your participation, please contact:

Dr. Jennifer Leason
Assistant Professor, Indigenous People’s Health
Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary
Phone: (403) 220-5813
Email: Jennifer.leason@ucalgary.ca

If you have any concerns about the way you’ve been treated as a participant, please contact the Research Ethics Analyst, Research Services Office, University of Calgary at 403.220.6289 or 403.220.8640; email cfreb@ucalgary.ca. A copy of this consent form has been given to you to keep for your records and reference. The investigator has kept a copy of the consent form.