Event Details

The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) represents, advocates and supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses, midwives and students, and commits to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health outcomes in Australia. Recently, CATSINaM has released a position statement called for an end to referring women to child protection services for missing antenatal care appointments, explaining the significant harm the practice has on women and their babies, families and communities. The statement calls for maternity services to address concerns regarding antenatal care attendance by instead working with consumers and community groups to identify and address barriers to accessing culturally safe, trauma-aware, healing informed antenatal care. 

This presentation will examine: 

• Important context, including a history of disruption of birthing and trauma 
• The development of the position statement in light of alarming contemporary practices
• The contents of the position statement and a call to action urging healthcare professionals to critically reflect on practices within their service, partner with Aboriginal organisations to improve culturally safe care and invest in prevention, early support and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff