Exploration of the factors that influence how remote dwelling Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory access antenatal care: A qualitative study. (Research Paper Sample)

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Research Title:
Exploration of the factors that influence how remote dwelling Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory access antenatal care: A qualitative study.
Background
Indigenous Australians experience more health inequalities than other Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). One of these health inequalities relates to maternal and child health. According to the national statistics on the health and welfare of indigenous Australians, babies who are born to indigenous mothers weigh less than the ones from non-indigenous mothers (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2019). In 2018, 12% of babies born to Australian mothers had low birth weight (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2019). The statistics could be significantly higher since most of the indigenous births are not recorded (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). In a span of 10 years, there has only been a 0.8% decrease in the rate of low birth weight among indigenous babies (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2019).
Smoking is among the main factors that cause low birth weight (Banderali et al., 2015). The 2016 national statistics showed that 43% of indigenous mothers smoked tobacco during pregnancy (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, 2019). This is a very high figure, that implies almost half of indigenous mothers and babies are at risk or already suffering from tobacco related complications. This high statistics could be a result of lack of knowledge on the dangers of smoking during pregnancy. According to Rheault, Coyer, Jones, & Bonner (2019), health literacy is low among the remote indigenous people. This means that healthcare interventions such as a simple health education could decrease the poor health practices and outcomes among the indigenous people.