Logo image
Back
Perspectives of health service providers in delivering best-practice care for Aboriginal mothers and their babies during the postnatal period
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Perspectives of health service providers in delivering best-practice care for Aboriginal mothers and their babies during the postnatal period

Jocelyn Jones, Angela Durey, Natalie Strobel, Kimberley McAuley, Karen Edmond, Juli Coffin and Daniel McAullay
BMC pregnancy and childbirth, Vol.23, 8
2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-022-05136-6
PMID: 36604651
pdf
Best-practice care for Aboriginal mothers and their babies during the postnatal period1.09 MBDownloadView
Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0,  Open Access
url
Best-practice care for Aboriginal mothers and their babies during the postnatal periodView
Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Female Health Education Health Services, Indigenous Humans Indigenous Peoples Infant Infant, Newborn Mothers Postnatal Care Pregnancy Western Australia Aboriginal Best practice
Evidence suggests that Aboriginal babies in Western Australia are not receiving adequate primary health care in their first 3 months of life, leading to questions about enablers and constraints to delivering such care. This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project investigating health providers' perceptions and experiences of best and current practice in discharge planning, postnatal care and health education for Aboriginal mothers and their newborn babies. Constructivist grounded theory guided this research involving 58 semi-structured interviews conducted with health providers who deliver care to Aboriginal mothers and infants. Participants were recruited from hospital-based and primary health sites in metropolitan Perth, and regional and remote locations in Western Australia. Structural factors enabling best practice in discharge planning, postnatal care, and health education for mothers included health providers following best practice guidelines and adequate staffing levels. Organisational enablers included continuity of care throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatally. In particular, good communication between services around discharge planning, birth notifications, and training in culturally respectful care. Structural and organisational constraints to delivering best practice and compromising continuity of care were identified as beyond individual control. These included poor communication between different health and social services, insufficient hospital staffing levels leading to early discharge, inadequate cultural training, delayed receipt of birth notifications and discharge summaries received by Aboriginal primary health services. Findings highlight the importance of examining current policies and practices to promote best practice in postnatal care to improve health outcomes for mothers and their Aboriginal babies.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#5 Gender Equality

Source: InCites

Metrics

48 File views/ downloads
71 Record Views
4 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.72 Obstetrics & Gynecology
1.72.808 Childbirth Practices
Web Of Science research areas
Obstetrics & Gynecology
ESI research areas
Clinical Medicine
Logo image