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Building birthing on country for the Yuin community

First Nations women of Australia have given birth on their country and within their cultural practices for most of their history. The colonisation of Australia by Europeans disrupted this, and it is now challenging for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to access maternity care that is local to them, and which honours their culture. Midwifery continuity of care delivered in models designed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, by clinicians who are answerable to their local community can build the strength and vitality of communities.

The IBUS study (Hickey, et al., 2018) has been examining the outcomes of providing birthing on country services within a midwifery continuity of care model. Preliminary findings have shown a significant reduction in preterm birth rates (Kildea, et al., 2019). Preterm birth rates are higher for children born to indigenous women compared to non-indigenous women, and these children are at a life-long disadvantage. Few interventions designed to prevent preterm birth have been as effective as these structural changes to the way care is provided. Despite this, midwifery continuity of care models remain limited around Australia and access to such care is particularly lacking for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women living in regional areas.

Waminda, the South Coast Women’s Health and Welfare Aboriginal Corporation – located on Yuin land in Nowra, NSW – is poised to solve this access issue for their local community. Extensive consultation within the community occurred in 2017 in the form of the Building on Our Strengths (BOOSt) project (Roe, Kildea, & Briggs, 2017). Participants identified that they wanted maternity systems based on Aboriginal ways of knowing and doing, that provide holistic care, and that were committed to giving their children the best start in life.

Waminda have designed a Birthing on Country program that puts the needs of the community first and is underpinned by sound research. A central part of this program is to build a Birthing and Community Hub which will enable the provision of maternity services, including birthing services. The major obstacle in their way at the present time is funding. To overcome this, Waminda are seeking public funding for the project. You can help make this happen by making a donation to support this work.  More information is available on the Waminda Birthing on Country website.

 

References
Hickey S, Roe Y, Gao Y, Nelson C, Carson A, Currie J, et al. The Indigenous Birthing in an Urban Setting study: the IBUS study: A prospective birth cohort study comparing different models of care for women having Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies at two major maternity hospitals in urban South East Queensland, Australia. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2018;18(1):431.

Kildea, S., Gao, Y., Hickey, S., Kruske, S., Nelson, C., Blackman, R., Tracy, S., Hurst, C., Williamson, D., & Roe, Y. (2019, Jul). Reducing preterm birth amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies: A prospective cohort study, Brisbane, Australia. EClinicalMedicine, 12, 43-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.06.001

Roe, Y., Kildea S. and Briggs, M. (2017). Birthing on Country, Best Start to Life, Illawarra Shoalhaven, 2017. Birthing on Country Working Group, Midwifery Research Unit, University of Queensland.