Returning birthing services to communities and Aboriginal control: Aboriginal women of Shoalhaven Illawarra region describe how Birthing on Country is linked to healing (original) (raw)
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Women and Birth, 2019
Background: Birthing on Country is an international movement to return maternity services to First Nations communities and community control for improved health and wellbeing. Question: How can we implement Birthing on Country services for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families across Australia? Methods: We have developed a framework from theoretical, policy and research literature on Birthing on Country; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices from across Australia; reviews exploring programs that have improved outcomes for Indigenous mothers and infants; and the retrospective synthesis of learnings from two empirical studies that have redesigned maternal infant health services and improved outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Results: The RISE Framework has four pillars to drive important reform: (1) Redesign the health service; (2) Invest in the workforce; (3) Strengthen families; and, (4) Embed Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community governance and control. We present the evidence base for each pillar and practical examples of moving from the standard 'western' model of maternity care towards Birthing on Country services. Conclusions: Application of the RISE framework to plan, develop and monitor Birthing on Country services is likely to result in short and long-term health gains for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Australian Health Review, 2017
Developing high-quality and culturally responsive maternal and infant health services is a critical part of ‘closing the gap’ in health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians. The National Maternity Services Plan led work that describes and recommends Birthing on Country best-practice maternity care adaptable from urban to very remote settings, yet few examples exist in Australia. This paper demonstrates Birthing on Country principles can be applied in the urban setting, presenting our experience establishing and developing a Birthing on Country partnership service model in Brisbane, Australia. An initial World Café workshop effectively engaged stakeholders, consumers and community members in service planning, resulting in a multiagency partnership program between a large inner city hospital and two local Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services (ACCHS). The Birthing in Our Community program includes: 24/7 midwifery care in preg...
Midwifery, 2011
Objective: to investigate the beliefs and practices of Aboriginal women who decline transfer to urban hospitals and remain in their remote community to give birth. Design: an ethnographic approach was used which included: the collection of birth histories and narratives, observation and participation in the community for 24 months, field notes, training and employment of an Aboriginal co-researcher, and consultation with and advice from a local reference group. Setting: a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, Australia. Participants: narratives were collected from seven Aboriginal women and five family members. Findings: findings showed that women, through their previous experiences of standard care, appeared to make conscious decisions and choices about managing their subsequent pregnancies and births. Women took into account their health, the baby's health, the care of their other children, and designated men with a helping role. Key conclusions: narratives described a breakdown of traditional birthing practices and high levels of non-compliance with health-system-recommended care. Implication for practice: standard care provided for women relocating for birth must be improved, and the provision of a primary maternity service in this particular community may allow Aboriginal Women's Business roles and cultural obligations to be recognised and invigorated. International examples of primary birthing services in remote areas demonstrate that they can be safe alternatives to urban transfer for childbirth. A primary maternity service would provide a safer environment for the women who choose to avoid standard care.
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Background With the impact of over two centuries of colonisation in Australia, First Nations families experience a disproportionate burden of adverse pregnancy and birthing outcomes. First Nations mothers are 3–5 times more likely than other mothers to experience maternal mortality; babies are 2–3 times more likely to be born preterm, low birth weight or not to survive their first year. ‘Birthing on Country’ incorporates a multiplicity of interpretations but conveys a resumption of maternity services in First Nations Communities with Community governance for the best start to life. Redesigned services offer women and families integrated, holistic care, including carer continuity from primary through tertiary services; services coordination and quality care including safe and supportive spaces. The overall aim of Building On Our Strengths (BOOSt) is to facilitate and assess Birthing on Country expansion into two settings - urban and rural; with scale-up to include First Nations-opera...
Improving Aboriginal Maternal Health by Strengthening Connection to Culture, Family and Community
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
(1) Background: To explore the function of smoking in Aboriginal women's lives from a trauma-informed, women-centred approach in order to inform the design of a culturally meaningful smoking cessation program for women living in the Pilbara, Western Australia; (2) Methods: Qualitative and Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) was used to discover what Aboriginal women know about smoking, the specific contextual issues that influence their smoking, and what community supports are available to help them quit smoking. Inductive analysis was used to determine key themes; (3) Results: 25 Aboriginal women (smokers, non-smokers, and ex-smokers) participated in focus groups or individual interviews. Women smoked to deal with stress, trauma and for maintaining social connections. Women who stopped smoking did so on their own when the reason was important enough or when they saw alternative ways of living. Creating safe places to bring women together to yarn about women's business and link with health services was identified as critical to support women to stop smoking. Conclusions: Strategies to address smoking need to bring community, culture and health together in a meaningful way for women and their families; build on existing community strengths; and educate communities about the effects of smoking, and health professionals about how to support women to stop smoking.
Birth, 2015
Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families experience markedly worse maternal and child health outcomes than non-Aboriginal families. The objective of this study was to investigate the experiences of women attending Aboriginal Family Birthing Program services in South Australia compared with women attending mainstream public antenatal care. Method: Population-based survey of mothers of Aboriginal babies giving birth in urban, regional, and remote areas of South Australia between July 2011 and June 2013. Results: A total of 344 women took part in the study around 4-9 months after giving birth; 93 percent were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders, and 7 percent were non-Aboriginal mothers of Aboriginal babies. Of these, 39 percent of women lived in a major city, 36 percent in inner or outer regional areas, and 25 percent in remote areas of South Australia. Compared with women attending mainstream public antenatal care, women attending metropolitan and regional Aboriginal Family Birthing Program services had a higher likelihood of reporting positive experiences of pregnancy care (adjOR 3.4 [95% CI 1.6-7.0] and adjOR 2.4 [95% CI 1.4-4.3], respectively). Women attending Aboriginal Health Services were also more likely to report positive experiences of care (adjOR 3.5 [95% CI 1.3-9.4]). Conclusions: In the urban, regional, and remote areas where the Aboriginal Family Birthing Program has been implemented, the program has expanded access to culturally responsive antenatal care for Aboriginal women and families. The positive experiences reported by many women using the program have the potential to translate into improved outcomes for Aboriginal families. (BIRTH 2015
Remote dwelling Aboriginal Australian women and birthing: A critical review of literature
Women and Birth, 2019
Australian Aboriginal women's aspirations for birthing on country (having our babies born on our traditional land) are increasingly being reported in Australian scholarly and policy literature. However given the paucity of publications authored by Aboriginal Australians from remote areas of Australia, how well can the current knowledge base in Australia inform the development of culturally appropriate maternity services for our communities? Objective: The aim of this literature review is to critically analyse the policy documents informing maternity services policy and scholarly literature on the birthing experiences (including the provision of maternity services) of Aboriginal Australian women from remote communities from an Indigenous standpoint. Method: Policy documents and scholarly literature were critically analysed to identify who the authors were, their background, approaches and perspectives; and emergent themes. A further analysis of the literature drew on Fairclough's ideas on discourse, power and hegemony. Findings: A critical discourse analysis of this literature exposed how these texts are ideologically shaped to give voice (and power) to the medical fraternity, maternity care services practitioners and policy makers (whose knowledge is valued) while simultaneously silencing the voices of Aboriginal Australians that pose a challenge to that power. Conclusion: This critical review of current literature highlights the importance of ongoing critique of maternity services policy and practice discourse necessary to combat western medical hegemony that maintains the disenfranchisement of Aboriginal Australians.
BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2018
A healthy start predicts better health in later life. Many remote-living Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian families lack access to consistent, culturally-safe health services. This paper presents a study of implementation of the Baby One Program (BOP). The BOP was designed as a family-centred, Indigenous Healthworker-led, home-visiting model of care focused on promoting family health to give children the best start to life. It was developed by Aboriginal community-controlled Apunipima Cape York Health Council and delivered in Queensland Cape York remote communities. We aimed to determine how the BOP was implemented, enablers, strategies used and formative implementation outcomes. The qualitative approach utilised theoretical and purposive sampling to explore people's experiences of a program implementation process. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with four family members enrolled in the BOP and 24 Apunipima staff members. In addition, twenty co...