La Trobe University study reveals benefits of maternity care for first nations mothers and babies
A study of 213 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) pregnant women having a First Nations baby at one of three maternity services in Naarm (Melbourne) found that culturally tailored continuity of midwife care models were met with high levels of satisfaction with care.
The study, led by Res McCalman, from La Trobe University’s Judith Lumley Centre and published in the journal, Women and Birth, was conducted at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Mercy Hospital for Women.
The three hospitals proactively offer First Nations women continuity of midwifery care, sometimes called caseload midwifery care.
Caseload midwifery is a type of midwife-led continuity where a woman has 24/7 telephone access to a primary caseload midwife (and one or two backup midwives) who provides care throughout pregnancy, labour and birth, and in the early postnatal weeks.
Despite previous findings that this model is associated with substantially better health outcomes, very few First Nations women have access to this type of care (despite being more likely to experience a preterm birth, a low birthweight baby or infant loss), according to one of the study authors Professor Helen McLachlan.
“Prior to 2017, when these programs designed for First Nations women were put into place, only 5.8% of First Nations women had ever received caseload midwifery at the three sites combined, compared with over 4,800 non-First Nations women,” Professor McLachlan said.
From March 2017 to August 2021, 663 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families were booked into the three dedicated programs.
In this study women having a First Nations baby who were booked for care at one of three study sites were invited to complete one questionnaire during pregnancy and then a follow up questionnaire, 3 months after the birth.
