Ensuring mothers and babies get the best care possible is something the Women’s Team at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) in Mackay, Queensland prides itself on.

Their efforts were recently featured in the Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2013.

Since July 2012, the Women’s Team has been working to improve the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and their families by providing support and care to prepare women, their partners and families for labour, birth and postnatal baby care.

“The service has been supportive during my pregnancy and it is nice to know I can get advice and help from the dedicated staff,” one client said.

The Women’s Team escorts expectant mothers and their partners to the Mackay Base Hospital midwifery department and helps make them feel comfortable in the hospital environment.

The team visits mothers and babies in hospital prior to their discharge and helps them make appointments to visit ATSICHS Mackay for postnatal checks.

The team also provides education and information on how to care for newborns and encourages mothers to care for their own health during and after pregnancy.

This personalised approach has seen underweight babies achieve normal weight, increased immunisation rates, increased the number of mothers bringing their children to the centre for hearing and dental checks, and has resulted in more mothers breast feeding.

“I find ATSICHS Mackay very friendly and the immunisation clinic is easy to access as I don’t need an appointment,” a mother of nine said.

“I appreciate the reminder phone calls and I can talk with the registered nurse each time I visit the service.”

ATSICHS Mackay’s weekly play group is fully booked with 25 children between the ages of zero to five attending. Around 30 parents (including dads) are attending the group, interacting with other parents and learning positive parenting techniques to deal with challenging behaviours.

Parents comment to staff that they bring their children to the play group because the teacher is Aboriginal and the children can learn about their culture, sing traditional songs, and interact with other families.

“I bring my daughter to playgroup because being a dad I want to interact with her,” one father said.

“I work away and don’t get the opportunity to see her socialise with other kids. It makes me proud to be a dad.”