Rhonda P Marriott

Murdoch University

Perinatal mental health is vital for mothers, infants, and families. Aboriginal mothers, despite their strengths, face greater mental health disparities due to colonisation and trauma. Traditional screening methods lack cultural sensitivity. The Baby Coming You Ready (BCYR) program offers a culturally sensitive assessment with promising pilot resul...

Background Perinatal mental health significantly affects mothers, infants, and families. Despite their resilience and strengths, Aboriginal mothers experience disproportionate physical and mental health disparities. These result from historical and ongoing impacts of colonization and the resultant complex trauma. Conventional approaches to perinata...

Introduction Complex trauma can have serious impacts on the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. The perinatal period represents a ‘critical window’ for recovery and transforming cycles of trauma into cycles of healing. The Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future (HPNF) project aims to implement and evaluate a p...

Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience intergenerational trauma as a legacy of the impacts of colonisation. Replanting the Birthing Trees (RBT) aims to transform compounding cycles of intergenerational trauma and harm to positively reinforcing cycles of intergenerational nurturing and recovery for Aboriginal and Torres S...

Background Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with diabetes in pregnancy (DIP) are more likely to have glycaemic levels above the target range, and their babies are thus at higher risk of excessive fetal growth. Shoulder dystocia, defined by failure of spontaneous birth of fetal shoulder after birth of the head requiring obstetr...

Abstract Objectives: Among Aboriginal children, the year between birth and 1 year of age has the highest mortality rate compared with any other age. Prompt administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) leads to better outcomes and a lower likelihood of ongoing sequalae. Current education on infant CPR is not provided to parents except in ce...

This population-based study investigated the association of BMI and other predictors with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mothers. We conducted a state-wide retrospective cohort study that included all singleton births in Western Australia (n = 134,552) between 2012 and 2015 using population health...

The disruption to a parent’s sleep that biologically normal infant nightwaking and crying entails can be difficult for parents to manage. In Western settings where solitary, continuous infant sleep throughout the night is emphasised, parents might become concerned about their infant’s sleep and present for guidance. Interventions offered to parents...

Objective: The objective of this review is to investigate First Nations populations' perceptions, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and myths about stillbirth. Introduction: First Nations populations experience disproportionate rates of stillbirth compared with non-First Nations populations. There has been a surge of interventions aimed at reducing...

Aim: To critically appraise the literature to determine availability and identify the cultural responsiveness of infant resuscitation education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. Background: Despite overall reductions in infant mortality in the last two decades, Aboriginal people have some of the highest rates of infant morta...

Objective: Maternal mental health problems are common during the perinatal period and have been associated with several negative outcomes in children. However, few studies have examined the associations between maternal mental health problems and offspring outcomes among Indigenous people, and the findings across these studies have been inconsiste...

Research priorities for preterm or low birth weight (LBW) infants were advanced in 2012, and other research priority-setting exercises since then have included more limited, context-specific research priorities pertaining to preterm infants. While developing new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for care of preterm or LBW infants, we condu...

Approximately 11% of infants are born preterm, and complications of prematurity are the most common cause of death in children aged under five years. Almost one million preterm infants die each year across low, high and middle income countries. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a Guideline Development Group (GDG) to examine evid...

The disruption to a parent’s sleep that biologically normal infant nightwaking and crying entails can be difficult for parents to manage. In Western settings where solitary, continuous infant sleep throughout the night is emphasised, parents might become concerned about their infant’s sleep and present for guidance. Interventions offered to parents...

Infants (<1 year old) are the age group in Australia with the highest rate of involvement with child protection. Many jurisdictions across Australia and internationally are implementing policies focused on prenatal planning and targeted support. This study investigates Australian trends in prenatal and infant child protection notifications, substan...

Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) women have a high prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy (DIP), which includes pre-gestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We aimed to characterize the impact of DIP in babies born to Aboriginal mothers. Methods: A retrospective cohort stu...

Objective: Maternal mental disorders have been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes such as low birthweight and preterm birth, although these links have been examined rarely among Australian Aboriginal populations. We aimed to evaluate the association between maternal mental disorders and adverse perinatal outcomes among Aboriginal births....

BACKGROUND Nutrition in pregnancy is pivotal to optimizing infant growth and maternal well-being. The factors affecting Indigenous people’s food and nutrition intake are complex with a history of colonization impacting the disproportionate effect of social determinants to this day. Literature regarding the dietary intake or dietary priorities of In...

Background: Nutrition in pregnancy is pivotal to optimising infant growth and maternal wellbeing. The factors affecting Indigenous people's food and nutrition intake are complex, with a history of colonisation impacting the disproportionate effect of social determinants to this day. Literature regarding the dietary intake or priorities of Indigeno...

Background: Primary healthcare, particularly Indigenous-led services, are well placed to deliver services that reflect the needs of Indigenous children and their families. Important characteristics identified by families for primary health care include services that support families, accommodate sociocultural needs, recognise extended family child...

Background: Having a preterm (<37 weeks' gestation) birth may increase a woman's risk of early mortality. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) women have higher preterm birth and mortality rates compared with other Australian women. Objectives: We investigated whether a history of having a preterm birth was associated wit...

Limited research has directly sought the input of parents involved in the child protection system during pregnancy and with their infants. As the focus of these policies and practices, parents have a unique and important insight not available to others, so it is vital to obtain their input. As part of a larger Australian study, qualitative intervie...

Community-based behavioural interventions targeting sleep in young children aged 0-3 years: a systematic review of theoretical underpinnings and behaviour change techniques Primary research questions: This review broadly aims to characterise non-pharmacological infant sleep interventions delivered in a community setting in terms of theoretical un...

Aims In the UK the number of children living in temporary accommodation has risen by 80% since COVID-19 [1]. One fifth of Australian children aged 0 to 5 years lived in homelessness/housing instability prior to COVID-19 [2,3]. Little is known regarding the impact of homelessness on the health of children living with homeless families. Moreover, the...

Purpose Maternal mental health problems are common during the perinatal period and have been associated with several negative outcomes in children. However, few studies have examined these associations among Indigenous people, and the findings across these studies have been inconsistent. This scoping review comprehensively examined the perinatal an...

Aim The aim of this paper is to describe the implementation and evaluation of the Growing Strong Brains® (GSB) toolkit in a remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia (WA) over a 2-year period, 2018–2019. Background Ngala, a community service organisation in WA, developed the GSB toolkit in 2014, a culturally appropriate and interactive reso...

Reducing the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care (OOHC) is a key Closing the Gap target committed to by all Australian governments. Current strategies are failing. The “gap” is widening, with the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in OOHC at 30 June 2020 being 11 time...

In 2019–2020 we conducted a pilot study of a Nurse Practitioner clinic working with housing insecure children (0–18 years) that found high levels of developmental delay, missed immunizations and dental caries. This present non‐randomized, concurrent mixed‐methods study protocol explains the next phase of the research designed proving proof of conce...

Introduction The Baby Coming You Ready (BCYR) program emerged from the Kalyakool Moort PhD research which explored barriers and enablers to effective mental health screening. Current practice using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) has not been validated for use with Aboriginal women. Our aim is to pilot a clinically and culturally...

Problem Routine administration of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is intended to promote early detection and preventative support for those who may be at risk of perinatal depression and anxiety. The cultural suitability of the EPDS has not been validated in the Aboriginal Australian context. Background Marked differences in health...

Currently, there are few robustly evaluated social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) measures available for use with Aboriginal youth in research, policy, and practice. As such, this study used a Rasch measurement approach to examine the psychometric properties of Strong Souls, a 25-item self-reported SEWB instrument, created for use with Aboriginal y...

Evidence about the association between maternal mental health disorders and stillbirth and infant mortality is limited and conflicting. We aimed to examine whether maternal prenatal mental health disorders are associated with stillbirth and/or infant mortality. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for studies examining the associatio...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants currently have one of the highest rates of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) and infant death of any population in a developed nation. Prompt initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is crucial for survival in an emergency situation. This is particularly relevant in remote communities w...

Aim This paper documents the impact of a Nurse Practitioner-led primary health service for disadvantaged children living in housing instability or homelessness. It identifies that First Nations children miss out on essential primary care, particularly immunisation, but have less severe health conditions than non-First Nations children living in hou...

The Growing Strong Brains® (GSB®) toolkit was developed by Ngala in Western Australia (WA) in 2014 and has been accepted as a culturally appropriate health promotion tool within Aboriginal communities. The toolkit is an interactive series of images and activities that represent early brain and child development themes from conception through to the...

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is used extensively as the “gold standard” perinatal depression and anxiety screening tool. This study contributes to an emerging discussion about the tool’s shortcomings, specifically around cultural suitability for use with Indigenous women. A systematic search was conducted in ProQuest, PsycINFO, M...

Introduction Self-regulation is a modifiable protective factor for lifespan mental and physical health outcomes. Early caregiver-mediated interventions to promote infant and child regulatory outcomes prevent long-term developmental, emotional and behavioural difficulties and improve outcomes such as school readiness, educational achievement and eco...

The Growing Strong Brains® (GSB®) toolkit was developed by Ngala in Western Australia (WA) in 2014 and has been accepted as a culturally appropriate health promotion tool within Aboriginal communities. The toolkit is an interactive series of images and activities that represent early brain and child development themes from conception through t...

Background The health disadvantages faced by Australian Aboriginal peoples are evidenced in early life, although few studies have focused on the reasons for population-level inequalities in more severe adverse outcomes. This study aimed to examine the scale of disparity in severe neonatal morbidity (SNM) and mortality between Aboriginal and non-Abo...

Background The premature birth of an infant coupled with admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can pose complex psychosocial challenges to parents and the family unit. Measures designed to counteract the effects of restricted visitation and prolonged separation from the infant within the NICU setting have led to the development of the...

Contemporary definitions and understandings of resilience refer to an individual's positive adaptation to the experience of adversity. One of the challenges of this extant body of work is that the central concept of resilience is rarely questioned. Current understandings of these concepts, largely framed in Western understandings, are unquestioning...

(1) Background: This article examines whether connection to digital technologies helps connect young Indigenous people in Australia to culture, community and country to support good mental health and well-being and protect against indirect and potentially long-term effects of COVID-19. (2) Method: We reviewed literature published between February a...

Objective: There is a paucity of quantitative measures of resilience specifically validated for young Aboriginal people in Australia. We undertook the first investigation of validity and reliability of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in a sample of Australian Aboriginal people, with a focus on youth. Method: We conducted a cross-sect...

Background The Birthing on Noongar Boodjar project (NHMRC Partnership Project #GNT1076873) investigated Australian Aboriginal women and midwives’ views of culturally safe care during childbearing. This paper reports on midwifery knowledge of Aboriginal women's cultural needs, their perceptions of health systems issues, and their ability to provide...

The Department of Health, Act ion Plan for Children and Young People states 22% of all Australian children live in housing instability (Australian Government 2019). Australian research states one in six children or 1.1million children live in disadvantage or are marginalised (Davidson et al.2018; Long et al. 2018; Sandstrom & Heurta 2013). Margina...

The Department of Health, Action Plan for Children and Young People states 22% of all children in Australia aged 0-14 years live in housing instability. Exposure to housing instability in childhood is significantly linked to long term ill-health, lower academic achievement, increased poor health physically and mentally, and increased risk of adult...

Objectives: To assess the scale of ethnic inequalities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) rates and quantify the contribution of maternal characteristics to these disparities. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Whole-of-population linked administrative data from 2002 to 2015 in Western Australia. Participants: Women with 410 043 bi...

Background and Objectives Self-regulation is a modifiable protective factor for lifespan mental and physical health outcomes. Early caregiver-mediated interventions to promote infant and child regulatory outcomes prevent long-term developmental, emotional, and behavioural difficulties and improve outcomes such as school readiness, educational achie...

Nurses and midwives of Australia now is the time for change! As powerfully placed, Indigenous and non-Indigenous nursing and midwifery professionals, together we can ensure an effective and robust Indigenous curriculum in our nursing and midwifery schools of education. Today, Australia finds itself in a shifting tide of social change, where the voi...

Introduction Maternal mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression are major public health concerns. Evidence shows a link between maternal mental health disorders and preterm birth and low birth weight. However, the impacts of maternal mental health disorders on stillbirth and infant mortality have been less investigated and inconsistent...

Problem The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is considered the gold standard in perinatal mental health screening and the Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines recommend universal use. However, screening rates are four times lower with Indigenous Australian women compared to non-Indigenous women. Difficulties have been reported using t...

Introduction Optimal mental health in the pre-conception, pregnancy and postpartum periods is important for both maternal and infant wellbeing. Few studies, however, have focused on Indigenous women and the specific risk and protective factors that may prompt vulnerability to perinatal mental disorders in this culturally diverse population. Object...

Background: The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) provides a measure of early child development upon school entry. Understanding which combination of factors influences Aboriginal child neurodevelopment is important to inform policy and practice. Objective: The primary objective was to use latent class analysis (LCA) to model AEDC profi...

Background Improving the rates of, and instruments used in, screening for perinatal depression and anxiety among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are important public health priorities. The Kimberley Mum’s Mood Scale (KMMS) was developed and later validated as an effective and acceptable perinatal depression and anxiety screening tool fo...

Background: Perinatal mortality rates are typically higher in Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal populations of Australia. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the pattern of stillbirth and neonatal mortality rate disparities over time in Western Australia, including an evaluation of these disparities across gestational age groupings. Methods:...

Background Birth on Country is often assumed as relevant to Aboriginal women in rural/remote locations and not usually associated with urban environments. In Western Australia, one third of the Aboriginal population live in the greater metropolitan area. We wanted to know Aboriginal women’s experiences of on Country urban births. Methods Indigenou...

Background Culturally secure care is considered foundational for good perinatal outcomes for Indigenous women. It is unknown what literature reports on whether Indigenous women giving birth in urban areas receives appropriate cultural care. The aim of this scoping review was to examine and summarise relevant evidence which reports on culturally sec...

Objective This study examines the scale of maternal mental health related contacts among Australian Aboriginal children over time, and associations with socio-economic characteristics, geographical remoteness and maternal age. Design A retrospective cohort study of the prevalence of maternal mental health related contacts among Aboriginal children...

Objectives: The removal of a child from their parents is traumatising, particularly in Aboriginal communities where a history of child removals has led to intergenerational trauma. This study will determine where disparities in child protection involvement exist among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and characteristics associated with infan...

The Birthing on Noongar Boodjar project investigated the cultural birthing practices of Aboriginal women living on country (Noongar Boodjar) in an urbanised environment; and their experiences of interactions with maternal health care providers (especially midwives). The evidence from the five year study identified changes required in health systems...

Background: While studies confirm high prevalence of language disorder among justice-involved young people, little is known about the impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) on language among this population. It is also not clear how language skills vary according to language diversity in Australian youth justice settings, where a disprop...

Introduction Adopting a process-oriented framework for test validation can help to establish whether this tool has the potential to be an acceptable, valid and reliable indicator of depression for mothers and mothers-to-be. This mixed-methods research protocol seeks to explore the views and experiences of Aboriginal mothers and healthcare professio...

Background: The quality of social and emotional wellbeing services for Indigenous families of young children is not known, in many settings especially services provided by primary care centers. Methods: Our primary objective was to assess delivery of social and emotional wellbeing services to the families of young (3-11 months) and older (12-59...

Objectives To estimate the prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) among young people in youth detention in Australia. Neurodevelopmental impairments due to FASD can predispose young people to engagement with the law. Canadian studies identified FASD in 11%–23% of young people in corrective services, but there are no data for Australia...

Aims and objectives: This study was positioned within a larger action research study relating to a peer-led Aboriginal home visiting parent support program in an urban Western Australian setting. The aims for this study component were to identify program elements, exploring participants' perceptions of the program's suitability, feasibility, accep...

Background: Participatory action research is a credible, culturally appropriate methodology that can be used to effect collaborative change within vulnerable populations. Aim/Objective: This participatory action research study was undertaken in a Western Australian metropolitan setting to develop and evaluate the suitability, feasibility and effect...

Objectives Our primary objective was to determine the incidence of hospital admission and emergency department presentation in Indigenous and non-Indigenous preterm infants aged postdischarge from birth admission to 11 months in Western Australia. Secondary objectives were to assess incidence in the poorest infants from remote areas and to determin...

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of family-centred interventions for Indigenous early childhood well-being, delivered by primary healthcare services in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, on a range of physical, psychosocial and behavioural outcomes of Indigenous...