The Growing Deadly Families Strategy is Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternity strategy that aims for all women birthing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies to be able to access culturally safe, continuity of care through their maternity journey.
It is well established that when mothers are healthy and supported throughout their pregnancy, their babies are more likely to be born at full term and at healthy birth weight. Investing in the health of mothers and babies contributes to the best start to life, leading to better lifelong outcomes for those mothers and babies.
The introduction of the Growing Deadly Families Strategy highlights the significance of birth as a cultural and ceremonial event. The first ever First Nations Midwifery Director in Australia, Registered Midwife and proud Gurindji woman Melina Connors leads the implementation of the Growing Deadly Families Strategy.
Melina’s involvement in the strategy began in 2021 when, as a Clinical Midwifery Consultant, Melina led the scoping that informed future work on implementing the Growing Deadly Families Strategy. Melina travelled over 100 thousand kilometres throughout the state, looking for partnerships within communities and services and co-designing models of care that supported the strategy’s vision.
An Aboriginal woman, a Mum to three daughters and a Mimi to two grandchildren, Melina knows firsthand the impacts of receiving maternity care in a model that wasn’t built for her. “My journey into midwifery came about from my own maternity and birthing experience.
As the inaugural First Nations Midwifery Director, Melina has a unique understanding of the Growing Deadly Families Strategy Implementation, having worked years on the ground, direct with Midwives, Aboriginal Health Workers, General Practitioners, Obstetricians and a range of other health professions involved in delivering maternity services. Melina has taken the time to speak with health professionals, consumers, community members and families to understand their views. She knows one size will not fit all in achieving culturally safe care for First Nations women and families.
“We are expanding Growing Deadly Families at the moment, and it is very exciting to see that as a collective we are recognising the need for First Nations governance of that strategy, through imbedding leadership positions to guide and strengthen our approach.” A major goal of the strategy, says Melina, is to continually increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people trained across all the areas of maternity care. “Women have told us time and time again that they want to be cared for by the same person throughout their pregnancy and that they want to be cared for by people who are culturally capable.” The Growing Deadly Families Strategy and its implementation is supporting additional positions within hospital and health services, as well as pipelining the incoming workforce and providing additional cultural support for the existing workforce. “We’re throwing our best at it from all angles and it’s an honour to play a role in the implementation of this strategy and show what it can achieve,” says Melina.
Melina presented the Growing Deadly Families Strategy at the recent CRANAplus conference in October in Naarm. During the session, Melina’s message was “If we get it right for First Nations women, we will get it right for all women”.
