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Aboriginal women are typically confronted with a number of barriers to quality antenatal care .
Safe delivery
First ‘ large-scale examination ’ to tackle stillbirth in Aboriginal families .
By Wade Zaglas
Curtin university researchers will be carrying out a first-of-its-kind examination of stillbirths among Aboriginal families in a project supported by the federal government .
Led by Associate Professor Carrington Shepherd from the Curtin Medical School , the project will involve researchers and health professionals working in close partnership with Aboriginal elders , communities and local service providers .
Professor Sandra Eades , Dean of Curtin Medical School and a member of the project team , said the research hopes to provide fresh insights .
“ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are two to three times more likely to experience the heartbreak of a stillbirth than non-Indigenous women in Australia ,” Eades said .
“ By working with Aboriginal elders , communities and the relevant service providers , this research [ has ] the ultimate aim of helping to reduce these devastating outcomes .”
Shepherd , who is also a member of the steering committee for the Stillbirth Centre for National Excellence ( and has a specific interest in Indigenous health ), said the project aimed to enhance our understanding of the risks of Aboriginal stillbirth and develop Aboriginal-specific intervention strategies to support stillbirth education and awareness .
“ The project will generate critical new knowledge to help prevent a significant number of Aboriginal stillbirths including culturally effective health promotion and education interventions ,” he said .
“ While the work will primarily engage with , and focus on , communities on Noongar Boodja ( south-west of Western Australia ), the findings and outcomes have the potential to help Aboriginal families across Western Australia and nationally .”
Other members of the research team include Professor Rhonda Marriott from the Ngangk Yira Research Centre at Murdoch University and Aunty Millie Penny as the lead Aboriginal elder . Researchers from Curtin University , the Telethon Kids Institute , the Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth at the Mater Research Institute , Still Aware and the Department of Health will also be in the team .
Shepherd told Campus Review there has been little research to date on this topic .
“ Certainly there have been increasing efforts by the research , public policy and health service sectors to reduce stillbirth rates in Australia – and this recognises the profound burden of stillbirth and the tragedy of a stillbirth loss – but not much attention has been paid to addressing the distinctly higher stillbirth risk among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ,” he said .
“ Our own research has highlighted that Aboriginal stillbirth rates have reduced to some degree in the last two or three decades in Western Australia , but they remain two-to-three times that of the non- Aboriginal population .
“ What is not known is the contribution of various risk factors to these disparities , and therefore which modifiable risk factors to best target for the prevention of early life losses . We know that maternal characteristics , in particular , have been shown to elevate the risk of stillbirth and are generally more prevalent in Aboriginal
populations – including smoking during pregnancy , obesity , diabetes , hypertension and teenage pregnancy .
The project leader added that socioeconomic disadvantage “ has been shown to be associated with perinatal death and might also partly explain the persistent disparity in the rate of stillbirth between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations ”, but a range of other factors are also at play . Addressing these factors through education , more financial support and quality antenatal care is key .
“ Geographic remoteness is often discussed as a potential barrier to responsive and appropriate antenatal care services – and this has long been considered a critical issue in achieving equitable outcomes for Aboriginal women and their babies ,” Shepherd added .
“ However , Aboriginal women are typically confronted with a number of barriers to quality antenatal care services which extend beyond the individual constraints of socioeconomic circumstances and location , to the cultural safety , security and competence of mainstream care providers and health practitioners . And this is a recognised critical issue that we need continued efforts to ensure that mainstream antenatal care providers have the capacity to respond to the needs of Aboriginal women .”
When asked why such an examination into the issue has taken this long and what it hopes to achieve , the Curtin expert said :
“ It ’ s difficult to know why this has taken so long to address through research . There was a prominent senate inquiry into stillbirth recently and it acknowledged that more needs to be done to meaningfully tackle this issue among Aboriginal communities . We have taken up that challenge – and will draw on the wisdom , experiences and understandings of the community on this issue and from those professionals that are striving to develop programs to support healthy pregnancy and reduce key risks that are implicated in low birthweight , early life loss and poor health among Aboriginal babies .” ■
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