Maternal Health Matters (MHM): What determines rural health in Australia?

Australia is considered ‘one of the safest countries in the world in which to give birth or be born’¹

So why are rural and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian babies at greater risk of poor health outcomes related to maternal health?

Reasons for the disparities in in maternal infant health outcomes for rural Australians include:
Lower access to health care services²
Increased barriers to accessing appropriate health promotion services²
Higher proportion of population of lower socioeconomic status²

http://www.ruralhealth.org.au/

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian’s there are many additional contributing factors:

Historical and enduring marginalisation post colonisation³^,⁴

Greater burden of disease³

Lower socioeconomic status related to poor housing and lack of employment³

Cultural appropriateness of health care and promotion services⁵

What about the legal rights of an unborn child?

In Australia, it is still a choice to reduce risk factors for the sake of the unborn child. Under the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020, and all of the State and Territory legislation covering child protection, the definition of the child is ‘a person under 18 years of age’.⁶ This legislation does not cover the protection of the unborn child.

1. Department of Health and Aging. In: Improving maternity services in Australia: A discussion paper from the Australian Government. 2008. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.

2. National Rural Health Alliance Inc. Fact Sheet 5: Health Promotion in Rural Australia [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2014 Mar 09]. Available from: http://ruralhealth.org.au/sites/default/files/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-05-health%20promtion%20in%20rural%20australia_0.pdf

3. Kildea S, Kruske S, Barclay L, Tracy S. ‘Closing the Gap’: How maternity services can contribute to reducing poor maternal infant health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women [Internet]. The International Electric Journal of Rural and Remote Health Research, Education, Practice and Policy. 2010 [Cited 2014 Mar 30];10(1383):Available from: http://www.rrh.org.au.

4. Marmont M. Social Determinants of health of Indigenous Australians. Medical J Aust. 2011 [cited 2014 Mar 30];194(10):512-513. Available From: AUSThealth.

5. Anonymous. A broader understanding of Indigenous health [Internet]. Australian Nursing Journal. 2006 [cited 2014 Feb 12];14(4):25. Available from: ProQuest and Medical Complete.

6. Australian Government Insitute of Family Studies. Australian child protection legislation [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2014 Mar 23]. Available from: http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/factsheets/a145620/index.html