Two peak healthcare bodies are calling for urgent action on maternity care for First Nation’s women.
Following last week’s Redfern Statement, three groups including the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives have united to call for radical reform to maternity care services.
The three groups state that current initiatives are failing and are perpetuating poor health outcomes for Indigenous mothers and newborns.
The join initiative has developed “Birthing on Country” models and are calling for the approach to be implemented across Australia.
Birthing on Country programs are maternity services designed and delivered for Indigenous women that can be;
- Community based and governed
- Allow for incorporation of traditional practice
- Involve a connection with land and country
- Incorporate a holistic definition of health
- Value Indigenous and non-Indigenous ways of knowing and learning
- Culturally competent and developed by or with Indigenous people
Midwife and long-time remote health worker Sue Kildea said one of the important aspects of the model is about giving women choices.
Video: The Face of Birth (www.faceofbirth.com.au)
