'It's more than just having a baby' women's experiences of a maternity service for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families

Abstract

Objective: the Malabar Community Midwifery Link Service was developed to meet the needs of women from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in suburban Sydney, Australia. This paper reports the evaluation from the perspective of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who accessed the service.

Methods: a descriptive study using quantitative and qualitative approaches was undertaken for the first two years of the service. Clinical outcomes for women who gave birth in 2007 and 2008 were collected prospectively. A focus group with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women was conducted, then tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed qualitatively.

Findings: 353 women gave birth through the Malabar service during 2007 and 2008. Over 40% of the babies born were identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Almost all the women had their first antenatal visit before 20 weeks of pregnancy. The service was successful in reducing the number of women smoking cigarettes during pregnancy. Women felt the service provided ease of access, continuity of care and caregiver, trust and trusting relationships.

Conclusions: the Malabar service is an excellent example of a primary health care model of care that is meeting the needs of the community. Improving maternal and neonatal outcomes takes considerable time as the underlying causes of the disparities are complex.

Implications: further research into ways to ensure that services like Malabar can address issues like smoking in pregnancy and the range of social and emotional issues faced by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and families needs to be undertaken. More community-based appropriate services should be developed for these families.