Keep ancestral midwifery in the Amazon alive for another 15 years and beyond
To combat maternal and infant health disparities in the Indigenous Amazon nations, the Ikiama Nukuri program trains Indigenous women as community health workers, offering prenatal care, birth attendance, postpartum support, and linking to the public healthcare system when needed.
Your support ensures every mother and child receives the care they deserve.
15 years of success
Preserving cultural wisdom for tomorrow
The Ikiama Nukuri program has worked alongside 67 incredible Achuar and Shuar Indigenous women for 15 years.
Fundación Pachamama and Ikiama Nukuri
For more than 15 years, our sister organization in Ecuador, Fundación Pachamama, has collaborated with the Achuar Nation through the Ikiama Nukuri program to develop a culturally appropriate, empowering, and sustainable model addressing maternal, infant, and community health, while also supporting Indigenous governing organizations and strengthening the local Indigenous peoples’ capacity to preserve the critical ecosystem.
Ancestral Midwifery
Ikiama Nukuri is passing on cultural practices to new generations. These women work hard to further develop their midwifery education while also keeping their traditional customs.
Their cultural practices are slowly disappearing, so it is important to help these Indigenous communities pass on their knowledge to new generations.
You can help
With global support, this initiative can continue to develop for many years, ensuring that ancestral midwifery doesn't fade with away.
Join us in preserving this vital tradition. Your support makes it all possible.
15
years of ancestral midwifery
15
years of women’s empowerment
15
years of women’s leadership
15
years of healthy new infants
We're celebrating by raising awareness
The Ikiama Nukuri program is honoring ancestral midwifery by supporting the production of a documentary episode in the series “Midwives Stories”
What is "Midwives Stories"?
Midwives Stories shows the trajectory of women who have dedicated their lives to the service of childbirth. Childbirth is understood as the powerful and magical portal through which the human being comes into the world.
The docuseries of 8 chapters is an investigation on ancestral midwifery in Ecuador through the life stories of these wise grandmothers.
The first chapter will be created through a partnership between the filmmakers and the Ikiama Nukuri program.
How you can help create the episode
Meet the production team
Gustavo Chiriboga, an Ecuadorian filmmaker, collaborates with midwife and therapist Maria Paola de la Torre to present the documentary series 'Midwives Stories'.
Gustavo Chiriboga
Director and co-creator of the documentary series 'Midwives Stories'
An independent filmmaker with 15 years of experience directing features and short films in the fiction and documentary categories. He graduated with a Performance Arts degree from Paul Valery University in France and is now based in Mindo, Ecuador.
His work focuses on showcasing Ecuador’s biodiversity and ecology through audiovisual narratives. He is the video coordinator at the Seeds Savers Network of Ecuador, and is the director of the award-winning documentary series Tarpuna, featuring the Network's seed savers and organic farmers throughout Ecuador.
Maria Paola de la Torre
Midwife, therapist and co-creator of the documentary series 'Midwives Stories'.
More than 12 years ago, she began her journey of exploring the cycles of women and alternative therapies to accompany different processes of female health. This led her to a path of research, travel, and study of Ancestral Midwifery.
Currently she accompanies women and families in their process of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care.
She attends home and hospital births and since this year she is part of the Ikiama Nukuri team as a facilitator of the maternal and infant program with the midwives of Achuar and Shuar nationalities.