Looking after bubba for all our mob: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community experiences and perceptions of stillbirth

Luciana Massi; Carolyn Lewis; Skye Stewart; Diana Jans; Rupesh Gautam; Lina Jalloub; Anneka Bowman; Philippa Middleton; Sue Vlack; Frances M Boyle; Carrington Shepherd; Vicki Flenady; Deanna Stuart-Butler; Kym M Rae

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385125

Looking after bubba for all our mob: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community experiences and perceptions of stillbirth

Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 16:12:1385125. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385125. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Luciana Massi^#^{1

2}, Carolyn Lewis^#³, Skye Stewart⁴, Diana Jans⁵, Rupesh Gautam¹, Lina Jalloub¹, Anneka Bowman⁶, Philippa Middleton^{1

7}, Sue Vlack⁸, Frances M Boyle^{1

9}, Carrington Shepherd^{3

10

11}, Vicki Flenady¹, Deanna Stuart-Butler¹, Kym M Rae^{1

2

12}

Affiliations

¹ Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence, Mater Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
² Indigenous Health Research Group, Mater Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
³ Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁴ Red Nose Australia, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Apunipima Cape York Health Council, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
⁶ Department Aboriginal Communities and Families Research Alliance, South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁷ Pregnancy and Perinatal Care, South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁸ School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁹ Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
¹⁰ Ngangk Yira Research Institute, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia.
¹¹ Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.
¹² Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The stillbirth rate among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and communities in Australia is around double that of non-Indigenous women. While the development of effective prevention strategies during pregnancy and improving care following stillbirth for women and families in communities has become a national priority, there has been limited progress in stillbirth disparities. With community permission, this study aimed to gain a better understanding of community experiences, perceptions, and priorities around stillbirth. We undertook an Indigenous researcher-led, qualitative study, with community consultations guided by a cultural protection protocol and within an unstructured research framework. A total of 18 communities were consulted face-to-face through yarning interviews, focus groups and workshops. This included 54 community member and 159 health professional participants across remote, regional, and urban areas of Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia, and Northern Territory. Thematic analysis of consultation data identified common themes across five focus/priority areas to address stillbirth: Stillbirth or Sorry Business Baby care needs to be family-centered; using Indigenous "ways of knowing, being, and doing" to ensure cultural safety; application of Birthing on Country principles to maternal and perinatal care; and yarning approaches to improve communication and learning or education. The results underscore the critical need to co-design evidence-based, culturally appropriate, and community-acceptable resources to help reduce existing disparities in stillbirth rates.

Keywords: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders; Indigenous; Sorry Business; antenatal care; grief and loss; maternal and infant health; perinatal loss; stillbirth.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Australia
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
Female
Focus Groups*
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Male
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander* / psychology
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander* / statistics & numerical data
Pregnancy
Qualitative Research*
Stillbirth* / psychology

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This project was funded by the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care grant to the Stillbirth CRE for the initial phase of the Cultural Adaptation of the Safer Baby Bundle (CASBB). It encompassed findings from consultations during the formative work of the CASBB project for the development of stillbirth prevention resources.