Australian Indigenous

Conference abstracts and papers

12th National Health Promotion Conference: Inequalities in health - reflecting back, stepping forward.
29 October - 1 November 2000, Hotel Sofitel, Melbourne, Victoria.

Sandy Campbell, Laura Thompson and Leanne Coyle
Koori Maternity Services Program.

Objective: To enhance existing community-based Aboriginal maternity service providers, and provide support to empower workers to create the best possible solutions for their own communities.

Outline: The project coordinator is an Aboriginal registered nurse and midwife from Queensland, who has worked in the area of Aboriginal health since 1987. One of the project workers is a Victorian Aboriginal and the other project worker is an indigenous Islander. All workers are currently involved in community controlled health in Victoria, and believe strongly in the principals of self-determination and empowerment of individuals to control their own health. Their role is .to assist the communities in the their endeavours to provide appropriate maternity services to Aboriginal people.

Aboriginal women are a high-risk group during pregnancy. Poor client contact with maternity care providers will further increase this risk, as there will be fewer opportunities for effective intervention to occur.

The program stemmed from expressions from VACCHO members that there were inadequate funds to provide effective maternity services for Aboriginal communities around Victoria. An Aboriginal midwife conducted extensive consultations with Victorian Koori women from communities throughout Victoria. This process aimed to give Koori women some control over their own health by empowering Koori women. This involved talking to Aboriginal women in Victoria about their experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care, as well as with the service providers. This process looked at current gaps and weaknesses in mainstream maternity service providers, and obstacles that face Aboriginal women accessing mainstream services. The program also looked at the two community-based models of maternity care (Linkage-Advocacy-Health Promotion and Clinical-Linkage-Advocacy-Health Promotion) provided in some Victorian Aboriginal communities.

Summary of results: Currently there is no Aboriginal community in Victoria with an adequate level of maternity services. Some of the issues identified which face Aboriginal communities include: lack of choice in mainstream service providers; incompatibility of mainstream facilities with Aboriginal Women; negative attitudes of some mainstream staff towards Aboriginal women; poor relationships between Aboriginal services and mainstream institutions; the high risk status of pregnant Aboriginal women; inaccuracies in the heath information of Aboriginal people and constraints on Aboriginal Health Workers.

Discussion/Analysis: There is inadequate maternity service provision in Victorian Aboriginal communities. The major focus of the program is to empower Koori women to take control of their own health. The project should enhance existing maternity services and look at reorienting some health services, implementing appropriate community-based services in certain communities and sustaining health workers' education and training. Culturally appropriate resources and health promotion materials created by Victorian Aboriginal women for Aboriginal women should be available.

Last updated: 5 October, 2001