Biomaterial Database

Aboriginal maternal and infant care workers: partners in caring for Aboriginal mothers and babies. 2008

Georgina Stamp, and Sonia Champion, and Geraldine Anderson, and Bronwyn Warren, and Deanna Stuart-Butler, and Jacqueline Doolan, and Cheryl Boles, and Lisa Callaghan, and Anne Foale, and Christine Muyambi

Spencer Gulf Rural Health School, University of South Australia, Whyalla Campus, Whyalla Norrie, South Australia, Australia . georgie.stamp@unisa.edu.au

BACKGROUND Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Care (AMIC) workers and midwives work in intellectual and inter-cultural partnerships in a new perinatal care model the Anangu Bibi Family Birthing Program that aims to provide culturally focussed perinatal care for Aboriginal mothers and families at two sites in regional South Australia. This study investigated the views of the AMIC workers and midwives about their roles, their partnership and the program, following the first 45 births. METHODS Semi-structured interviews with all five AMIC workers and four of the five midwives working in the program were conducted. Tapes were transcribed and main themes extracted. RESULTS The AMIC workers' role included clinical, cultural, social and aspects from the confirmation of pregnancy through to 6-8 weeks after the birth. Themes relating to their work role included: clinical work; social and emotional support; language and advocacy for the partnership: mutually equivalent roles and for the program: clinical benefits and cultural safety. The midwives' role included clinical practice, skill-sharing and mentoring. Midwives were guided by AMIC workers' social, cultural and community knowledge. Themes that emerged for the midwives on the partnership were: time and commitment to working inter-culturally; issues with the new AMIC worker role; clinical skill sharing and mentoring; resistance of some hospital midwives; respect for AMIC workers' cultural knowledge and community links; and two-way learning. Themes of perceived benefit were: increased use of services and cultural benefits. CONCLUSIONS The study provides a snapshot of a living, developing, inter-cultural partnership established to tackle the vitally important issue of Aboriginal mothers' and babies' health. Development of the partnership took commitment and time. There were issues initially with resistance from hospital staff. Skill sharing and two-way learning engendered mutual respect. Clear benefits of the care model were highlighted by both the AMIC workers and midwives while cultural safety was maintained for the Aboriginal mothers and families. The AMIC worker role will continue to require acknowledgement, support and development. This equivalent inter-cultural partnership model has the potential for much wider application and evaluation. Future programs should factor in the time required to build and sustain partnership relationships.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007407	Interviews as Topic	Works about conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes works about school admission or job interviews.	Group Interviews,Interviewers,Interviews, Telephone,Oral History as Topic,Group Interview,Interview, Group,Interview, Telephone,Interviewer,Interviews, Group,Telephone Interview,Telephone Interviews
D008430	Maternal-Child Health Centers	Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to mothers and children.	Center, Maternal-Child Health,Centers, Maternal-Child Health,Health Center, Maternal-Child,Health Centers, Maternal-Child,Maternal Child Health Centers,Maternal-Child Health Center
D008880	Midwifery	The practice of assisting women in childbirth.	Traditional Birth Attendant,Midwife,Midwives,Birth Attendant, Traditional,Birth Attendants, Traditional,Traditional Birth Attendants
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D003299	Cooperative Behavior	The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)	Compliant Behavior,Behavior, Compliant,Behavior, Cooperative,Compliant Behaviors,Cooperative Behaviors
D005260	Female		Females
D006282	Health Personnel	Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)	Health Care Professionals,Health Care Providers,Healthcare Providers,Healthcare Workers,Health Care Professional,Health Care Provider,Healthcare Provider,Healthcare Worker,Personnel, Health,Professional, Health Care,Provider, Health Care,Provider, Healthcare
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013021	South Australia	A state in south central Australia. Its capital is Adelaide. It was probably first visited by F. Thyssen in 1627. Later discoveries in 1802 and 1830 opened up the southern part. It became a British province in 1836 with this self-descriptive name and became a state in 1901. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1135)
D044468	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/1997/10/30/97-28653/revisions-to-the-standards-for-the-classification-of-federal-data-on-race-and-ethnicity). In the United States it is used for classification of federal government data on race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity terms are self-identified social construct and may include terms outdated and offensive in MeSH to assist users who are interested in retrieving comprehensive search results for studies such as in longitudinal studies.	Pacific Island Americans,Native Hawaiians,Pacific Islander Americans,Hawaiian, Native,Native Hawaiian,Pacific Island American,Pacific Islander American