The Baggarrook Yurrongi program, which revealed that maternity care for First Nations mothers and babies can be improved through access to culturally safe continuity of midwifery care, won the Award for Excellence in Indigenous Engagement.
The project was led by Latrobe University in partnership with Western Health via our Galinjera program, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Mercy Hospital for Women.
As part of the project, continuity of midwifery care was offered to women having a First Nations baby, with remarkable program uptake. Over 700 women having a First Nations baby received the innovative program, compared with only 34 prior to the study.
Continuity of midwifery care, or ‘caseload midwifery’, is where women have a known midwife care for them throughout their pregnancy, labour, birth and in the early postnatal period.
The caseload midwifery model offers a collaborative and coordinated approach, providing First Nations women the opportunity to have a known midwife who has appropriate cultural training to help them navigate their journey through the maternity care system, while maintaining their community and family supports.
The study showed very high levels of satisfaction for women having a First Nations baby. Across pregnancy, labour, birth and the early postnatal period, women reported very positive experiences of care – which was often very different to their previous maternity care experiences.