Project Details
Description
To establish Australia’s very remote Birthing on Country Centre of Excellence in Maternal Child Health across the first 1,000 days in Galiwin’ku, Northeast Arnhem Land.
A key component of the overarching aim, to be addressed with this Healthy Mums and Healthy Bubs Funding opportunity, is to fast-track the development and evaluation of the Galiwin’ku Djäkamirr Program.
The Djäkamirr component will grow the First Nations maternal health workforce, by developing and embedding the role of the djäkamirr, as we redesign the maternity services to reach more pregnant women earlier and support them for longer. The East Arnhem area has a severe maternal child health workforce shortage, and some of the most vulnerable women in the countrywith the highest rates of babies being born too soon and outside of a healthy
birthweight.
The djäkamirr program aims to implement systematic changes that will lead to long-term employment, increased health literacy and improved maternal health outcomes. The pilot, embedded Yolŋu knowledges into the curricula of the Better Births Unit in the Certificate IV Doula course. It was a success with 11 participants graduating. To progress this work, we will engage Yolŋu Knowledge Authorities to co-design advanced training modules, recruit and train a local djäkamirr workforce, test an appropriate employment model (building on the Strong Woman, Strong Babies, Strong Culture Program) and embed ~8-djäkamirrinto the Galiwin’ku/ Nhulunbuy workforce.
We have established a multiagency Steering Committee to guide the redesign of the maternity service for increased cultural safety and continuity of midwifery care. Our team work under a pandanus shelter and sleep in swags on the beach, as accommodation is not always available. Local infrastructure is needed, including offices and accommodation for Galiwin’ku based and visiting team members.
A key component of the overarching aim, to be addressed with this Healthy Mums and Healthy Bubs Funding opportunity, is to fast-track the development and evaluation of the Galiwin’ku Djäkamirr Program.
The Djäkamirr component will grow the First Nations maternal health workforce, by developing and embedding the role of the djäkamirr, as we redesign the maternity services to reach more pregnant women earlier and support them for longer. The East Arnhem area has a severe maternal child health workforce shortage, and some of the most vulnerable women in the countrywith the highest rates of babies being born too soon and outside of a healthy
birthweight.
The djäkamirr program aims to implement systematic changes that will lead to long-term employment, increased health literacy and improved maternal health outcomes. The pilot, embedded Yolŋu knowledges into the curricula of the Better Births Unit in the Certificate IV Doula course. It was a success with 11 participants graduating. To progress this work, we will engage Yolŋu Knowledge Authorities to co-design advanced training modules, recruit and train a local djäkamirr workforce, test an appropriate employment model (building on the Strong Woman, Strong Babies, Strong Culture Program) and embed ~8-djäkamirrinto the Galiwin’ku/ Nhulunbuy workforce.
We have established a multiagency Steering Committee to guide the redesign of the maternity service for increased cultural safety and continuity of midwifery care. Our team work under a pandanus shelter and sleep in swags on the beach, as accommodation is not always available. Local infrastructure is needed, including offices and accommodation for Galiwin’ku based and visiting team members.
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 1/04/22 → 31/03/25 |
Fingerprint
Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.