Maternity care for Aboriginal women
A new maternity services plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in rural and remote communities is urgently required, a report has found.
Published in the Medical Journal of Australia this week, 鈥樷�� comprehensively reviewed Australia鈥檚 National Maternity Services Plan (NMSP) and resulting actions regarding Aboriginal mothers and babies between 2010-2015.
University of Sydney academics from the , and co-wrote the report, led by Mater Research Institute鈥揢niversity of Queensland (MRI-UQ) Professor Sue Kildea.
They found that the NMSP 鈥渆xpired without notable results鈥� in three priority areas: building the Aboriginal maternity workforce, providing culturally competent maternity care and developing dedicated programs for 鈥榖irthing on country鈥�.
, from the University Centre for Rural Health, said: 鈥淎lmost a quarter of Aboriginal women give birth in remote parts of Australia, compared with just two percent of non-Aboriginal women.
鈥淭he disparities in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians are well established, including higher incidence of preterm birth, low birth weight and newborn mortality.
鈥淲e also know chronic diseases take root early in life."
We鈥檙e calling on the government to provide urgent funding for priority areas identified and accepted in the past, and for further research into the most effective ways we can arrest and improve health outcomes for all Aboriginal people.
, from the University鈥檚 Midwifery and Women's Health Research Unit, said: 鈥淎ustralian Aboriginal babies are almost twice as likely to be born with low birth weight than non-Aboriginal babies or Indigenous babies from other countries, and twice as many deaths occur.
鈥淚t is time for a new maternity services plan that recommits the government to tackling this situation urgently and effectively, to achieve health equality for all Australians.鈥�
, Academic Director at the University鈥檚 National Centre for Cultural Competence, said: 鈥淒espite a commitment in the NMSP to support culturally competent, localised care there has been no progress towards establishing and evaluating 鈥榖irthing on country鈥� services in remote or very remote Australia.
鈥淐ultural competency education and training aims to address health disparities, and further research is required to determine the most effective methods of training and flow-on effects to patients.鈥�
The report notes that three organisations 鈥� the Australian College of Midwives, the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, and the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia 鈥� have .
Related articles
Sydney excels in national research engagement and impact assessment