Could the Baby Bonus be a bonus for babies?

摘要

Closing the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous andudnon-Indigenous Australians needs to start in the womb.ud• Rates of perinatal mortality, preterm birth and low birth weightudare two to three times greater among the babies ofudIndigenous women than among those of non-Indigenousudwomen; low birth weight predisposes infants to greater risksudof chronic illness in later life.ud• Indigenous women in Australia tend to present for antenataludcare later in pregnancy than do non-Indigenous women.ud• There are many barriers for Indigenous women seeking toudaccess antenatal care — geographical, social, cultural,udfinancial and in some cases a lack of service provision. Manyudof these problems are being addressed within the publicudhealth system and by Indigenous community-controlledudhealth services. However, more needs to be done.ud• While antenatal care cannot solve all medical and socialudproblems, commencing such care as early as possible inudpregnancy has the potential to improve maternal health andudhence pregnancy outcomes.ud• Changes in the way the government Baby Bonus is paid toudnew mothers could act as an incentive not only to serviceudproviders but also to women themselves to initiate antenataludcare in the first trimester of pregnancy. Such a system hasudbeen well established for many years in France.ud• Any changes to the Baby Bonus scheme should provideudincentives and not be punitive in nature.