2022 Rainmaker Start Up: True preterm birth rate for First Nations in Alice Springs: insights from a data linkage study

The reported preterm birth rate in NT Mothers and Babies Report for First Nations in Alice Springs region (9.4% in 2019) has been consistently much lower than the rate in rest of NT (18.1%) most likely due to under reporting for those women who were transferred interstate to access advanced neonatal intensive care. According to Australia’s Mothers and babies 2019 report, there was 35 NT women gave birth in South Australia (SA) however the birth outcome and the Indigenous status of mother or baby was not available. The preterm rate for First Nations in Alice Springs was also much lower than the rate in SA (19.1%) in 2017 despite similar social economic conditions between these women. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Central Operation (NT-SA) as the only aeromedical retrieval service that operates across Central Australia, retrieved approximately 200 First Nations mothers with an ICD-10 diagnosis related to preterm during 2015-2019, however further details such as retrieval and receiving sites for this cohort is not publicly available. Given the relatively small number of births in Alice Springs (312 Indigenous births in 2019), any missing records will have a significant impact on the true preterm birth rate.

Currently Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (Congress) and Molly Wardaguga Research Centre (MWRC) is planning a Birthing on Country service redesign in Alice Springs to increase quality of maternity care, improve birth outcomes for First Nations families especially reducing unacceptably high preterm birth rate. It is critical to identify all women carrying an Indigenous baby who were transferred from Alice Springs, and report their birth outcomes to establish the true preterm birth rate before the new intervention implemented. Research findings from this study will provide reliable evidence for decision makers in the service redesign. A data linkage is planned to conduct between RFDS dataset, Alice Springs Hospital, Congress and two SA hospitals where NT women were transferred in. The linkage database will be used for evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Birthing on Country service redesign in Alice Springs.