Murdoch researchers on mission to bring more Aboriginal healthcare workers into midwifery, nursery industries

More Aboriginal healthcare workers are needed in the midwifery and nursing industries, according to two Murdoch researchers. Kamilaroi woman Bridgette Kelly and Palawa Trawlwoolway woman Trish Ratajczak are healthcare workers who transitioned into research in a bid to provide culturally safe healthcare for Aboriginal mothers and babies. Within the Ngangk Yira Institute for Change at Murdoch, the women published their Master’s theses on the Baby Coming You Ready program — a model of care designed to overcome communications barriers between Aboriginal women and their healthcare providers during pregnancy. Mrs Ratajczak — a midwife who previously worked at King Edward Memorial Hospital — says she saw a lack of cultural understanding while working in midwifery. “A mother shared with me during my research that she wanted to take her baby on country to strengthen her baby’s identity and connection to country,” she said. “But she was worried that if she told her midwife her baby would be taken away, because bubba was a newborn.” Mrs Ratajczak became a midwife after both of her children underwent heart surgeries and wanted to “give back” to the industry. But in her early years in the midwifery space, Mrs Ratajczak said she noticed a distinct lack of Aboriginal healthcare workers in the sector. “There weren’t very many Aboriginal midwives in the profession at that time, but culturally Aboriginal midwives have been by women’s side for thousands of years,” she said. “But it’s definitely growing and it’s a privilege for me to be able to provide support and mentorship if midwives want that. “We need more Aboriginal clinicians, child health nurses.” Her research found that strength-based cultural care, if implemented in the wider healthcare sector, could improve maternal and infant outcomes. Mrs Ratajczak said she wanted to give Aboriginal women a voice in the sector. “My research was done for the women, for Aboriginal women,” she said. “I wanted to give Aboriginal women a voice and a space — that’s not traditionally a space that allows that.” Mrs Kelly worked in community health for seven years before jumping into research and said Aboriginal people often didn’t use available health services because they were “not always culturally safe to come to”. “I think more often it comes with the clinic space itself,” she said. “They can be really overwhelming and not very kid friendly, and that can be a lot, so that can be a huge barrier for people, particularly Aboriginal families.” Her findings found ways to contribute to strong, trusting relationships between child health nurses and Aboriginal clients. Mrs Kelly said there was a “bigger cultural load” on Aboriginal clinicians because of the lower numbers and research could pave the way for load to be shared. “Aboriginal health is everybody’s business,” she said. “It shouldn’t just be up to Aboriginal people to make that happen and that change and that action in health services.”