Australian Journal Of Public Health 1994, 18(2): 185-189. Obstetrical outcomes of Aboriginal pregnancies at a major urban hospital

Abstract: While a number of previous papers have documented the poor general health of Australia’s Aboriginal population, relatively few have considered the health of Aborigines living in Australia’s urban centres. In this latter instance, Aborigines have access to conventional medical services and they live in a physical environment that does not differ greatly from that experienced by the lower-class white population. Of course, racial, familial and economic differences may continue to influence differentially the perceived accessibility of services to Aborigines and their non-Aboriginal neighbours. This paper compares the pregnancy outcomes of Aboriginal women and non-Aboriginal women living in a major urban centre in Australia. The data indicate that urban Aboriginal women have adverse pregnancy outcomes at one and a half o two times the rate experienced by the non-Aboriginal population. Much of the difference can be attributed to Lifestyle variations in the groups being compared. (Aus J Public Health 1994, 18: 185-9) There is clear evidence that Aborigines have the poorest health of any identifiable group in Australia; they carry a burden of ill-health and mortality far in excess of tha