Aboriginal-led birthing on country programs have allowed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to determine how and where they give birth. The result has dramatically improved health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and babies.
As a mother and a former nurse, I can’t think of a better illustration of how an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice enshrined in the constitution will improve the health and wellbeing of our peoples.
There has been a global recognition of the benefits of listening to diverse needs and the limitations of top-down control. In the health sector, it’s about structural reform. Most health professionals would now agree that patient outcomes are better when people are consulted and involved in their own health.
That’s what the voice offers to our people.
So, it comes back to empowerment. Women understand the importance of self-determination because if we understand how sexism works, we know how systemic racism works.
Having worked at RDH for 20 years, I can recall the numerous 12 year old girls coming into the hospital to give birth. At 12 the female body is not mature enough to safely give birth.
We had a wonderful Arnhem Land traditional midwife provide a lecture for us on traditional birthing techniques. The main thrust of her lecture was to explain that traditional marriage of 12 year old females to older men included that the girls stayed with their parents until the age of 19 or 20 when they were then physically able to give birth safely. Her lament was that the traditional culture had broken down and now young girls were given away to promissory marriages at a very young age and lived with their husbands immediately.
The traditional communities in the Australian outback are not safe places for women, in my experience.