“Supporting Security taught us that you are supposed to comfort your baby ... My mother knows it now and she doesn’t let babies cry any more. She used to say it was important to let a baby cry and clear out his lungs. Now people realize that a baby is thinking. They never thought of that before ... People didn’t think babies had feelings. They thought babies didn’t start having feelings or start thinking until later when they were older.
“Mothers who went through the groups are different. They understand how their babies think. It reassures them. They realize how important mother is for a baby. My community needs Supporting Security a lot. Moms in the group said they wished other moms would come too. Some don’t because they are discouraged by their partners ... Partners may feel insecure because they feel the mom is learning something they don’t know. We need to find ways to reach them and reassure them. Supporting Security helps us.”
Canada’s Indigenous children are the most marginalized in our country. One in four lives in poverty compared to one in nine non-Indigenous children. These children also experience a $3,000 shortfall in government spending for on-reserve education compared to other children. Save the Children is committed to helping all children get the support they need to flourish. Drawing on our history of partnering with Indigenous peoples in Colombia and Bolivia, we are working to create change for Canada’s Indigenous children.
“Once upon a time our ancestors carried us on their backs as they chopped wood, as they gathered their wood and cooked their meals. The moss bags the infants slept in kept them warm and secure. The importance of attachment and security was important then and it’s imperative that we continue in this generation. Supporting Infant Security is a program that has helped nourish the souls and minds of our children who will be our future and helps support the caregivers who are a significant part of their lives.”
–Christina Linklater
Christina is the HealthcareCoordinator for MooseFactory, Ontario.
In partnership with Dr. Jean Wittenberg of The Hospital for Sick Children, we continued our three-year parent/caregiver-child bonding project called Supporting Security: Strengthening the Experience of Security for First Nation Mothers and their Infants. This project aims to strengthen the experience of bonding and security for Indigenous infants and children, by helping caregivers improve their responsiveness to the baby’s signals, which promotes emotional health for the infant.
39 local community health workers were trained.
199 parents and 281 children participated in support groups.
10 locations in the Kenora and James Bay regions of Northern Ontario benefited from support groups.
Over 250 other community members learned about attachment theory and how it is beneficial to babies.
Partnered with the Kenora Chiefs Advisory to integrate this project into a broader child and youth mental health strategy.
Also in 2011:
30,000 books were distributed to seven communities in the Kenora region.
Groundwork was laid for a heritage language project to increase children’s emotional health and well-being by helping them have a stronger sense of identity.