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Pregnant Pause
Monday, 2 November, 2009
Antenatal care can't guarantee a healthy child.
Watch online: Pregnant Pause
Your Say: Why are some Indigenous women leaving it until late in their pregnancy to seek medical attention?
Nor can it compensate for the impact of chronic disease or social disadvantage.
But it gives health professionals the chance to detect and treat certain conditions.
Despite social disadvantage causing Indigenous women to have riskier pregnancies, they tend to seek medical help later than other women and have fewer medical visits when expecting a baby.
"We were finding that a lot of the women who were coming in were coming in well after their 20 week gestation [but] usually in the first 20 weeks is when a lot of things can happen in the pregnancy" says Kerrie-Ann Cook, from Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Care in NSW.
Join Living Black as video journalist Leah Craven investigates the barriers Indigenous women face when seeking medical attention and discovers a service trying to turn this around.
TRANSCRIPT
VOICEOVER: Pregnancy came as a shock to Kalitha Goodwin. At 16, the Dubbo student was too scared to tell her family, and before she confirmed her pregnancy with a doctor Kalitha had already dropped out of TAFE to avoid the shame of admitting that she was going to be a teen mum.
KALITHA GOODWIN, MOTHER: For a while before I went and did something I was pretty sure but pretty in denial as well.
VOICEOVER: Kalitha had morning sickness and an expanding stomach, but was paralysed by indecision. She didn’t see a doctor until her problem became too big to ignore.
KALITHA GOODWIN: I found out when I was pregnant - I was 23 weeks and four days. A bit nerve-racking. I had to get in straight away and get all my tests done. The ultrasounds were also on certain weeks but mine were a lot later.
VOICEOVER: Although she presented to her doctor well into her second trimester, Kalitha still had a good pregnancy and a healthy baby girl, Payton. At Wyong, on the New South Wales Central Coast, the mother-to-be Belinda Mathieson is remarkably calm for a woman who is about to have her baby induced. She sought medical care in the first trimester of her pregnancy.
BELINDA MATHIESON, EXPECTING MOTHER: I think I was about eight weeks, from memory.
VOICEOVER: Since then the 22-year-old has been closely monitored by medical staff.
JO-ANNE SAUNDERS, MATERNAL HEALTH WORKER: She is having a bit of a smaller baby so we were able to pick that up a lot earlier and then the doctors and everyone else was able to monitor her a lot more.
VOICEOVER: Staff at Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Care would like to see this routine become the normal.
DENISE LLEWELLYN, MIDWIFE: I think it has been well and truly proved that if you can have early antenatal care then that improves the outcomes for both mother and baby in the long run.
KERRIE-ANN COOK, CLINIC CO-ORDINATOR: Usually in the first 20 weeks is when a lot of things can happen within the pregnancy. If any birth defects can happen it will generally happen during that time.
VOICEOVER: Belinda was referred to a midwife, who helped her identify risk factors throughout her pregnancy.
BELINDA MATHIESON: Before I was pregnant I didn't really care what I ate. I just ate whatever - takeaway all the time - and once I was pregnant it was, like, all healthy food - fruits and everyone telling me that, “This is good for the baby” and “That's good for the baby.”
VOICEOVER: Antenatal care can't guarantee a healthy child, nor can it compensate for the impact of chronic disease or social disadvantage, but it does give health professionals the chance to detect and treat certain conditions.
DENISE LLEWELLYN: Indigenous women, as a group, have much higher risk factors than the normal, white population, for things like gestational diabetes, for having small babies, low birth-weight babies. Often lifestyle factors like drinking and cigarette smoking and also some issues with domestic violence.
VOICEOVER: Rates of perinatal mortality and pre-term birth are more than two times greater for babies of Indigenous women compared to the rest of the population. Anaemia, under nutrition, renal disease, rheumatic heart disease and hypertension are all common problems among Indigenous women. These health issues are linked to social disadvantage over many generations. In some cases, mothers who have had child protection issues in the past may keep their pregnancy secret.
GLYNIS BYERS, CLINIC CONSULTANT: There would be some women around that would fear that the minute they gave birth DoCS is there to grab that baby.
VOICEOVER: With accessible, user-friendly antenatal care, these health professionals say they cater to women who feel intimidated by the hospital system.
DENISE LLEWELLYN: Being in a non-clinical environment where people feel relaxed and free to come; being very non-judgmental, no matter what you hear.
VOICEOVER: While this young couple look forward to starting a healthy family, Kalitha is far from thinking about expanding her brood.
KALITHA GOODWIN: Hopefully going away for a dance career with my partner and Payton – hopefully, if it works out.
VOICEOVER: Kalitha says she now understands the importance of getting medical help and family support, early in a pregnancy. She wants other young women to do just that.
Source: Living Black SBS
Watch online: Pregnant Pause
Your Say: Why are some Indigenous women leaving it until late in their pregnancy to seek medical attention?
Nor can it compensate for the impact of chronic disease or social disadvantage.
But it gives health professionals the chance to detect and treat certain conditions.
Despite social disadvantage causing Indigenous women to have riskier pregnancies, they tend to seek medical help later than other women and have fewer medical visits when expecting a baby.
"We were finding that a lot of the women who were coming in were coming in well after their 20 week gestation [but] usually in the first 20 weeks is when a lot of things can happen in the pregnancy" says Kerrie-Ann Cook, from Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Care in NSW.
Join Living Black as video journalist Leah Craven investigates the barriers Indigenous women face when seeking medical attention and discovers a service trying to turn this around.
TRANSCRIPT
VOICEOVER: Pregnancy came as a shock to Kalitha Goodwin. At 16, the Dubbo student was too scared to tell her family, and before she confirmed her pregnancy with a doctor Kalitha had already dropped out of TAFE to avoid the shame of admitting that she was going to be a teen mum.
KALITHA GOODWIN, MOTHER: For a while before I went and did something I was pretty sure but pretty in denial as well.
VOICEOVER: Kalitha had morning sickness and an expanding stomach, but was paralysed by indecision. She didn’t see a doctor until her problem became too big to ignore.
KALITHA GOODWIN: I found out when I was pregnant - I was 23 weeks and four days. A bit nerve-racking. I had to get in straight away and get all my tests done. The ultrasounds were also on certain weeks but mine were a lot later.
VOICEOVER: Although she presented to her doctor well into her second trimester, Kalitha still had a good pregnancy and a healthy baby girl, Payton. At Wyong, on the New South Wales Central Coast, the mother-to-be Belinda Mathieson is remarkably calm for a woman who is about to have her baby induced. She sought medical care in the first trimester of her pregnancy.
BELINDA MATHIESON, EXPECTING MOTHER: I think I was about eight weeks, from memory.
VOICEOVER: Since then the 22-year-old has been closely monitored by medical staff.
JO-ANNE SAUNDERS, MATERNAL HEALTH WORKER: She is having a bit of a smaller baby so we were able to pick that up a lot earlier and then the doctors and everyone else was able to monitor her a lot more.
VOICEOVER: Staff at Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Care would like to see this routine become the normal.
DENISE LLEWELLYN, MIDWIFE: I think it has been well and truly proved that if you can have early antenatal care then that improves the outcomes for both mother and baby in the long run.
KERRIE-ANN COOK, CLINIC CO-ORDINATOR: Usually in the first 20 weeks is when a lot of things can happen within the pregnancy. If any birth defects can happen it will generally happen during that time.
VOICEOVER: Belinda was referred to a midwife, who helped her identify risk factors throughout her pregnancy.
BELINDA MATHIESON: Before I was pregnant I didn't really care what I ate. I just ate whatever - takeaway all the time - and once I was pregnant it was, like, all healthy food - fruits and everyone telling me that, “This is good for the baby” and “That's good for the baby.”
VOICEOVER: Antenatal care can't guarantee a healthy child, nor can it compensate for the impact of chronic disease or social disadvantage, but it does give health professionals the chance to detect and treat certain conditions.
DENISE LLEWELLYN: Indigenous women, as a group, have much higher risk factors than the normal, white population, for things like gestational diabetes, for having small babies, low birth-weight babies. Often lifestyle factors like drinking and cigarette smoking and also some issues with domestic violence.
VOICEOVER: Rates of perinatal mortality and pre-term birth are more than two times greater for babies of Indigenous women compared to the rest of the population. Anaemia, under nutrition, renal disease, rheumatic heart disease and hypertension are all common problems among Indigenous women. These health issues are linked to social disadvantage over many generations. In some cases, mothers who have had child protection issues in the past may keep their pregnancy secret.
GLYNIS BYERS, CLINIC CONSULTANT: There would be some women around that would fear that the minute they gave birth DoCS is there to grab that baby.
VOICEOVER: With accessible, user-friendly antenatal care, these health professionals say they cater to women who feel intimidated by the hospital system.
DENISE LLEWELLYN: Being in a non-clinical environment where people feel relaxed and free to come; being very non-judgmental, no matter what you hear.
VOICEOVER: While this young couple look forward to starting a healthy family, Kalitha is far from thinking about expanding her brood.
KALITHA GOODWIN: Hopefully going away for a dance career with my partner and Payton – hopefully, if it works out.
VOICEOVER: Kalitha says she now understands the importance of getting medical help and family support, early in a pregnancy. She wants other young women to do just that.
Source: Living Black SBS
