Janet Kigusiuq was the eldest of Jessie Oonark’s children (all of whom became artists). She spent the first forty years living on the land, first assisting her mother with innumerable chores and then living at Luke Anguhadluq’s camp with her husband Mark Uqayuittuq, where she ran her own household and raised her own family. She made her first drawings in 1968 and became one of Baker Lake’s most important graphic artists. Her graphic and textile art career continued well beyond the heyday of print production in Baker Lake in the 1970s and early 1980s. Woman in Labour is based on a drawing from Kigusiuq’s mid-career, a period during which she produced relatively simpler and less busy scenes, with fewer and larger figures, and before she adopted a vibrant palette of colours. This image is a domestic scene, and quite an intimate one at that. It depicts a young woman in labour and preparing to give birth with the help of an older, tattooed woman – an older relative or midwife. Her male relatives (including, presumably, her husband) try to keep busy during this important and clearly happy occasion. The young woman has removed her pants and kamiks in preparation for birthing. Kigusiuq accentuates her naked lower body with a subtle touch of colour. Woman in Labour was not included in the annual Baker Lake collection, and as such is a less widely known and rarely seen print.