Impact Of Low Birth Weight On Children In Australia And The Use Of Telemedicine Services

Low birth weight’s impact on Australian children has been a major cause of concern for the country’s health department, as well as local territories and states. Low-birth-weight neonates have not improved much over the years; rather, they have become more common in the country (Australian Government,2022). In 2018, 7.8 per cent of children residing in the Australia’s Northern Territory region were detected to have the issue of lower birth weight and it was higher compared to the previous year’s figure which was 7.0 per cent. Between 2012 and 2018, in the year of 2016, the highest rate of low-birth-weight children was observed and approximately 8.0 per cent of newborns were affected by this problem. Tasmania, behind the Northern Territory, had the second greatest number of cases of low-birth-weight children in 2018 that contributed 6 per cent of all low-birth-weight new-born incidents.

The numbers of low-birth-weight newborns have lessened slightly in Tasmania since 2017, along with 6.4 per cent of children born in the same year having the problem of lower birth weight. South Australia, behind the Northern Territory, had the third highest rate of low-birth-weight babies in 2018, accounting for 5.5 per cent of all infants. The percentage of babies born with low birth weight in Tasmania has decreased slightly from 2017, with 5.2 percent of babies born with low birth weight this year (Australian Government,2022).  Along with this, while comparing the non-indigenous and indigenous women in Australia, indigenous mothers were more likely to give birth to a low-weight infant (11.9 per cent vs 6.2 per cent in 2015). In addition, the low birth weight of the children was linked to the mother’s socioeconomic status. Low-income families accounted for 14.1 percent of all low-birth-weight children in the Northern Territory (Australian Government, 2018).

To tackle the issue of raised due to the remoteness of pregnant women, health care professionals can employ telemedicine services to improve the birth outcomes of pregnant women by allowing them to consult with specialists and get the treatments they require during their pregnancy (Kuciene, Dulskiene, & Medzioniene, 2018). Healthy habits can aid women in avoiding negative delivery outcomes, such as low birth weight cases which eventually helps the women to avoid the burden of the adverse health outcomes of the new born infants as well (Vanstone et al., 2017). Brown and DeNicola (2020) indicated in another study that the use of telemedicine services can increase service accessibility for pregnant women and mothers residing in rural areas of the country, and thus it can be predicted that this will minimise the incidence of low birth weight.  Prevalence Of Low Birth Weight In Australia Essay Paper

In this scenario, nurses once again play an important role in the establishment of telemedicine facilities for pregnant mothers in the local community context. As health care professionals, nurses will encourage pregnant women and mothers to use services of telemedicine that allow them to overcome easily the matter of remoteness and the negative consequences that come with it, as it is reported that having access to all of the services needed during pregnancy can help the mothers give birth to a healthy baby. Access to all necessary services during the various phases of pregnancy will enable the woman to avoid negative birth outcomes, such as low birth weight issues (Malouf, Henderson & Redshaw, 2017). Greiner (2017) found a link between good delivery outcomes and women using telemedicine services and in this current study the researchers reported that the telemedicine services are associated with the facilitation of the better outcomes of maternal health even in the rural areas as well.

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Telemedicine Services To Improve Birth Outcomes

The primary goal of the proposed action plan for the pregnant women is to solve the issues correlated with the infants having the problem of lower birth weight in the different parts of the country. The SMART goal of the program is represented is as below-

S- To improve the awareness associated with the pregnancy-based health services distributed by utilizing the telehealth facilities so that the problem of remoteness and associated glitches can be overcome.

M-The health awareness program will be organised in the community setting of the local areas and the training providers must integrate the women (who are at the age of becoming mothers) and it will increase the level of alertness among the individuals who will take part in the program.

A- The health promotion initiative will be joined by the young women as it will help them to improve their knowledge level about the Do’s and Don’t’s throughout their pregnancy period.

R- The health promotional movement will be conducted three times in a week and will run for 2 months.

T- After two months of the program, the evaluation procedure of the awareness program will be organised.

As per the HPPC model stage 2 of health promotion, the key area of change is related with an increase in pregnant women’s and mothers’ awareness, as difficulties of low birth weight can only be avoided by healthy practises during pregnancy. According to Kea et al. (2018), women living in rural regions do not have adequate access to the resources needed to manage maternal health throughout pregnancy. Poor maternal health was linked to women’s lack of decision-making capacity, fear of attending to health facilities, and perceived expenses of maternal health due to a lack of knowledge. As a result, the action plan’s main purpose is to address the issue of pregnant women’s lack of awareness. In the study of Black et al. (2020), the researchers reported about the usefulness of training programmes in increasing involvement in maternity care services. Participation in pregnancy awareness related classes was found to be positively connected with the use of maternal care services, delivery at health facilities, and access to skilled birth attendants by pregnant women in the study.

An indigenous woman who has given birth to a healthy baby can be included in the awareness campaign as a technique for tackling the issue, and her experience can be valuable in enlightening women of gestational age and women who are already pregnant from the indigenous community, as they can relate to the individual due to the cultural similarity (Kildea et al., 2017). Incorporating indigenous women into community awareness programmes for indigenous women can enhance engagement was also highlighted in the study of Durán-Díaz et al. (2020).

The second strategy for increasing the program’s effectiveness is to upsurge the percentage of participation of the pregnant women. To achieve this, the participating pregnant women will be given 30 Australian dollars as an incentive for consuming healthy foods, and along with these two free consultation sessions with a doctor for them and their family will also be given after attending the awareness session (Edu et al., 2017).

Role Of Nurses In Establishing Telemedicine Facilities

Resources- This program’s resources are mostly social media pages, pamphlets, and local advertising, as well as a local community centre for demonstrating services, money for incentives, and electricity.

Evaluation- After the completion of the programme, the participants’ knowledge level will be tested using the survey method to measure the success of the awareness programme.

When comparing with their non-indigenous counterparts, indigenous Australians experienced a higher incidence rate of low birth weight children. Mothers from the indigenous population were found to have contributed more to the data on low birth weight children than non-indigenous mothers in practically all of the country’s states (Australian Government, 2018). The outcomes are linked to various malpractices and a lack of understanding among the mothers. To address this issue, it is suggested that an education campaign on pregnant activities can be implemented. The delivery of the family-based education intervention was linked to enhanced maternal knowledge, as well as better birth outcomes and birth readiness (O’Brien et al., 2018). Shimpuku et al. (2019) found that delivering a family-based education programme was linked to better birth readiness and infant birth outcomes. According to the study, women who received this intervention had superior decision-making abilities and attended more prenatal sessions, which could improve birth outcomes.

Nurses play a critical role in administering the education programme and in educating women about the various risks involved with being pregnant, as they are directly responsible for raising awareness about the situation. Nurses and allied health care professionals are solely responsible for building evidence-based clinic processes and treatment results because of their compassionate leadership and motivating skills. In the study of Adatara et al. (2018), the researchers reported that nurses and health care professionals play the most significant influence in the establishment of better treatment outcomes during pregnancy through their leadership style and talents.

References

Adatara, P., Afaya, A., Baku, E. A., Salia, S. M., & Asempah, A. (2018). Perspective of traditional birth attendants on their experiences and roles in maternal health care in rural areas of northern ghana. International journal of reproductive medicine, 2018. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijrmed/2018/2165627/

Australian Government (2022). Health Status: Health Condition. Australian Government. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/australias-health-performance/australias-health-performance-framework/national/all-australia/conditions/health-conditions/3_1_6?filter=3.1.6|4|2018&tab=3.1.6|Table

Black, R. E., Taylor, C. E., Arole, S., Bang, A., Bhutta, Z. A., Chowdhury, A. M. R., … & Perry, H. B. (2017). Comprehensive review of the evidence regarding the effectiveness of community–based primary health care in improving maternal, neonatal and child health: 8. summary and recommendations of the Expert Panel. Journal of global health, 7(1). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5475312/

Brown, H. L., & DeNicola, N. (2020). Telehealth in maternity care. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics, 47(3), 497-502. https://www.obgyn.theclinics.com/article/S0889-8545(20)30049-8/abstract

Durán-Díaz, P., Armenta-Ramírez, A., Kurjenoja, A. K., & Schumacher, M. (2020). Community development through the empowerment of indigenous women in Cuetzalan Del Progreso, Mexico. Land, 9(5), 163. https://www.mdpi.com/721616

Edu, B. C., Agan, T. U., Monjok, E., & Makowiecka, K. (2017). Effect of free maternal health care program on health-seeking behaviour of women during pregnancy, Intra-partum and Postpartum Periods in Cross River State of Nigeria: A Mixed Method Study. Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences, 5(3), 370. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5503739/

Greiner, A. L. (2017). Telemedicine applications in obstetrics and gynecology. Clinical obstetrics and gynecology, 60(4), 853-866. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/cobg/2017/00000060/00000004/art00019

Kildea, S., Hickey, S., Nelson, C., Currie, J., Carson, A., Reynolds, M., … & Tracy, S. (2017). Birthing on Country (in Our Community): a case study of engaging stakeholders and developing a best-practice Indigenous maternity service in an urban setting. Australian Health Review, 42(2), 230-238.  Prevalence Of Low Birth Weight In Australia Essay Paper