Strong Beginnings, Sacred Bonds: World Health Day 2025 and the Call to Protect Native Mothers and Babies

Each year on April 7th, the world comes together to recognize World Health Day, a global observance led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to spotlight critical health issues and mobilize international action. For 2025, the theme — “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures” — initiates a year-long campaign focused on protecting maternal and newborn health. It’s a call to governments, health systems, and communities to prioritize women’s well-being, reduce preventable deaths, and build better support systems for families.

For Native American communities—including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians—this theme resonates deeply. Maternal and infant health is not only a medical concern but a sacred responsibility rooted in cultural traditions, kinship systems, and intergenerational wellness. However, despite this deep-rooted value, Native mothers and babies continue to face some of the most severe health disparities in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Indian and Alaska Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Native infants also experience higher rates of low birth weight, preterm birth, and infant mortality. These outcomes are not rooted in biology—they stem from generations of systemic neglect, underfunded healthcare systems, geographic isolation, and a lack of culturally safe care.

Reclaiming Birth Justice Through Community-Led Solutions

Yet, Native communities are not standing still. Across the country, Tribes and Native-led organizations are reclaiming birth justice and creating models of care rooted in culture, respect, and sovereignty. These efforts offer critical lessons as the world seeks new approaches to maternal and infant health.

Organizations like the Changing Woman Initiative, Tewa Women United, and Safer Childbirth Cities (Indigenous Birth Justice) are restoring Indigenous birthing practices, advocating for midwifery and doula care, and training Native birth workers to serve their own communities. These programs not only reduce medical complications—they also strengthen spiritual and emotional support systems during one of life’s most vulnerable transitions.

Programs like the Indian Health Service’s Maternal and Child Health initiatives are also working to improve clinical care in Native-serving hospitals and clinics. However, many advocates stress the need for deeper investment in community-driven models that integrate traditional knowledge, holistic health practices, and family-centered care.

Honoring the Sacred: What We Can Do

World Health Day 2025 offers a powerful opportunity to uplift Native voices and support Native-led solutions. Protecting maternal and infant health must be part of a broader commitment to health equity, cultural respect, and systemic change. Here's how individuals, communities, and policymakers can act:

• Support Native doulas and midwives by funding training programs and removing licensing barriers.

• Advocate for Tribal sovereignty in healthcare decision-making, including access to culturally appropriate birthing options.

• Expand Medicaid and prenatal care access in Native communities, especially in rural and reservation areas.

• Fund research led by Native scholars to understand and address maternal health disparities.

• Center cultural safety and trauma-informed care in healthcare training and delivery.

A Hopeful Future Begins with Honoring the Past

In many Native languages, the words for mother, life, and earth are interconnected. To protect Native mothers and babies is to protect the future of Native nations. It is to uphold the sacred bond between generations. On this World Health Day, let us commit to a vision where every Native family can experience childbirth with dignity, safety, and joy—and where every child is welcomed into the world with the strength of their ancestors behind them.

Strong beginnings build hopeful futures. And hope, like healing, is something we must protect together.