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Mental health of Australian Aboriginal women during pregnancy: identifying the gaps

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Abstract

Despite Australia’s high standard of health care provision, Australian Aboriginal women continue to experience poor pregnancy outcomes in terms of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. In an attempt to improve these outcomes, health care providers have developed targeted antenatal programmes that aim to address identified health behaviours that are known to contribute to poor health during pregnancy. While some areas of improvement have been noted in rates of engagement with health services, the rates of premature births and low birth weight babies continue to be significantly higher than in the non-Aboriginal population. It appears that Australian researchers have been focused on the behaviour of the individual and have failed to fully consider the impact that social and emotional well-being has on both health behaviours and pregnancy outcomes. This review has highlighted the need for an approach to both research and clinical practice that acknowledges the Aboriginal view of health which encompasses mental, physical, cultural and spiritual health. Until clinicians and Aboriginal women have a shared understanding of how social and emotional well-being is experienced by Aboriginal women, in other words their explanatory model, it is unlikely that any meaningful improvements will be seen.

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Acknowledgments

This paper has been developed as a part of PhD research currently being undertaken by Kelly J Prandl. This project is funded by Healthway and supported by an award from the Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship and Support Scheme (NAHSSS) funded by the Department of Health and Ageing. The views expressed in that publication do not necessarily represent those of the NAHSSS, its administrator, Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

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  1. School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Kelly J. Prandl, Rosanna Rooney & Brian J. Bishop

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  1. Kelly J. Prandl
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  2. Rosanna Rooney
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  3. Brian J. Bishop
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Correspondence to Kelly J. Prandl.

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Prandl, K.J., Rooney, R. & Bishop, B.J. Mental health of Australian Aboriginal women during pregnancy: identifying the gaps. Arch Womens Ment Health 15, 149–154 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0276-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0276-0

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