Maternity Services for Indigenous Australians

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Historical Background4

Maternity services for indigenous Australians4

Child Care in Australia as compared to the US7

Infant care throughout Australia (urban, regional, rural and remote)7

Literature8

Conclusion9

Maternity Services for Indigenous Australians

Introduction

Australia is supposed to be the safest place for deliveries because of the changes it has brought in its maternity systems and healthcare over the last couple of years. A few decades back, the healthcare system of the country had started to take a steady decline but that was soon rectified as the government and the healthcare industry started to fix all loose ends and strengthen their systems as well as the infrastructure. New and improved medical reforms were brought into the picture and now, the healthcare and medical facilities provided in Australia are the best that a person could receive (compared to other countries of the world) (Tracey, Dahlen & Caplice, 2007); (Tracey & Hartz, 2006).

While mortality rates in maternal care have improved in Australia, the women of Australia, especially the indigenous women, do not share the same levels of safety and security. Indigenous Australian women are not treated ideally and hence, the healthcare system can be said to be severely flawed in these areas. According to researches based on similar topics, the risk factors for rural and indigenous Australian women and infants are quite poor. Compared to other women, the mortality rates for indigenous women in Australia are twice as high. In fact, in some situations, they are more than two and a half times higher than the services provided to other Australian women. Indigenous women tend to smoke more during pregnancy which leads to foetal death (also known as still birth) and the death of newborn babies within 28 days (also known as neonatal death). Indigenous women are also much likely to have preterm infants and infants with extremely low birth weight. The teenage birth rate in women is four times more than the birth rate in non-indigenous women (Tracey, Sullivan & Dahlen, 2006); (Adeniran, Michael & Adeyemi, 2008).

Historical Background

The Australian Government, both at the federal level and in the individual states, it is particularly committed to the development of social services. There is social assistance for the sick, elderly, disabled and unemployed and maternity allowance is paid to mothers who do not receive income. The workers enjoy unemployment benefits and sickness, compensation for accidents at work and a comprehensive system of social security. In 1984, the federal state introduced a health care system for the entire population, known as Medicare, which provides health care and coverage for hospital care and home healthcare, which are free. Australia is known for its efficient air medical service (Flying Doctor Service) that provides medical care to people in remote regions, covering two-thirds of the Australian territory.

Maternity services for indigenous Australians

It has been observed and noted that indigenous women do not avail healthcare services as much as non-indigenous women. Those who do, avail medical services at a much later stage. This leads to complications in the delivery and the infant's ...