Baker Lake Prenatal Nutrition Program, Baker Lake, Nunavut

The Baker Lake Prenatal Nutrition Program (BLPNP) strives to improve the basic nutrition of expectant women and support them in having a healthy pregnancy. As the name suggests, the BLPNP is located in Baker Lake, Nunavut, an Inuit community that is only accessible by plane and boat. The project was founded in 1995 and is funded by Health Canada through the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) along with local sponsorship from the Baker Lake Hospice Society and in-kind donations from the community. The BLPNP offers support to project participants in both Inuktitut and English.

Every year, about 75 expectant women in their teens to early forties participate in the BLPNP. Women enter the project at the beginning of their pregnancy and are welcome to stay until their babies are 9 months old. Participants attend one of the three sessions that are offered each week.

The project is held in the Baker Lake Hospice Society building along with some other community programs, which allows for sharing of resources. The atmosphere is welcoming and friendly and includes comfortable couches and rocking chairs for mothers
to sit on and a supervised childcare room for their children to play in.

Each weekly session is centred around a cooking class in which the participants learn to cook two nutritious recipes. All of the recipes are very affordable and are based on local ingredients, such as caribou or fish. A local hunter, who is often a father, husband or partner of a participant, is offered gas money by the project to catch the meat or fish. Not only is it more affordable to use local ingredients, but it supports the community and provides a sense of cultural identity.

The participants cook on their own or with a partner, but a lot of cooperative effort is required. The coordinator explains, "The participants enjoy getting together with other moms and like what they cook and get the chance to try an ingredient or recipe that might be a little different." Caribou is a popular ingredient due to its high nutritional value and great taste. A few favourites include caribou stirfry, caribou stew, caribou lasagna, and caribou chili. Dairy products are often added to the main dishes because the women often have low intakes.

After doing a taste test, the mothers pack up the food they made and bring it home to share for supper. "Their families get quite excited about what they bring home and enjoy tasting the food. They usually come back and say that their family liked what they cooked and BLPNP encourages them to come back again." The coordinator reports that a project worker also does grocery store tours with moms to teach them how to make healthy choices, and provides individual dietary counselling for women with increased needs.

After cooking, participants play games on topics such as nutrition during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Staff give some presentations themselves, but most often arrange for a guest speaker such as a community health representative, nurse, or dietician to come in to talk to the group. An elder makes regular visits to share her experiences of childbirth, pregnancy, breastfeeding and baby care with the group. The coordinator says, "The women find this very interesting because [the elder] talks about her experience in a traditional context, like giving birth in an igloo or tent." Afterward, the women lead the discussion by asking the elder for advice or predictions for the gender of their baby. One or two times each year, a nurse-midwife comes in to teach prenatal classes that focus on preparation for labour and delivery and a healthy pregnancy. Theme workshops on topics such as breast feeding and making baby foods are also offered.

The feedback from the BLPNP participants proves that the project is an effective and worthwhile cause. One woman said, "I learned to communicate. When you don't communicate, you feel isolated. You feel better when you're not alone." Another participant said "I'm eating more and better at home".

After awhile, the positive energy of the participants is bound to rub off on the project staff. One of the coordinator's favourite aspects of working at the BLPNP is the interaction with participants during the cooking classes: "I really like the combination of providing practical and educational information." The BLPNP truly has become an important part of the community of Baker Lake, touching the lives of the moms and babies in the program, their families and extended families, as well as project staff.