Adaptation and implementation of the Safer Baby Bundle for Indigenous women

The stillbirth rate among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and communities in Australia is around double that of non-Indigenous women. This project aimed to adapt the National Safer Baby Bundle program to the cultural context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through co-design. We consulted with hundreds of community members and clinicians across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, and Northern Territory. This led to the development of two broad suites of educational packages – Stronger Bubba Born and Healthy Yarning Guide.

Stronger Bubba Born

Stronger Bubba Born is a suite of woman-facing resources and includes a master booklet and a summary video, accompanied by 5 flyers and videos that can be discussed and watched with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the clinical setting when discussing stillbirth prevention.

The Stronger Bubba Born master brochure contains information around the five evidence-based elements that address key areas where improved practice can reduce the number of Sorry Business Babies (stillbirth). Likewise, five discrete, downloadable flyers provide information around the five evidence-based Safer Baby elements that address key areas where improved practice can reduce the number of Sorry Business Babies.

These resources were developed by the Stillbirth CRE Indigenous research team with guidance from the Indigenous Advisory Group. The Indigenous research team at Curtin University supported Stillbirth CRE in the extensive consultation and co-design process with the communities in Western Australia.

Stronger Bubba Born resource suite can be accessed online at https://strongerbubbaborn.org.au/

Healthy Yarning Guide

This educational program aims to enable health professionals in recognising and understanding the disparity in Indigenous stillbirth rates compared to non-Indigenous stillbirth rates, have a better understanding of the historical and contemporary issues that impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s health, and recognise the importance of culturally safe care in health to improve their own practice and perinatal outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.  This training program is being offered in 6 modules and was developed by the Stillbirth CRE Indigenous team to be primarily delivered in a face-to-face setting but is also currently being offered as an e-learning course at https://clinicians-elearn.stillbirthcre.org.au/

Evaluation of these resources is currently underway and with project finding expected to be published in 2025/2026

Publication:

Massi L, Lewis C, Stewart S, Jans D, Gautam R, Jalloub L, et al. Looking after bubba for all our mob: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community experiences and perceptions of stillbirth. Frontiers in Public Health. 2024;12.