Welcoming Our Little Ones: Ideas to share with you

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It is OK if you don’t know where to start. Other families have shared some ideas they think might be helpful …

Discovering your cultural connections

• If you know your mob or Elders, reach out to them.
• Talk to a friend, family or Community member and ask what they know or do.
• Reach out to your local:
  • Aboriginal birthing unit (if you or your partner are pregnant)
  • Aboriginal community or cultural centres
  • Aboriginal land council
  • Aboriginal medical service.
• Find other sources of spiritual support to ground you. Just one person might be all you need.
• Sometimes just feeling your feet in the dirt, sand or water, and remembering your culture is all around you, is what is needed.

Figuring out what you want to do

• Read through the ideas in this guide, then decide what suits you and your family
• You don’t have to try all the ideas you read about. You might have your own ideas – make a list if it helps.
• You might talk to your partner, family or Community to help you decide what to do.

Asking workers for what you want

• If you are having (or already have) an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child, then you have the right to access culturally safe care. But if Indigenous health care isn’t offered, ask or look into other options. It is normal to find it hard to stand up for our rights and ask for what we want, but if we don’t it may not happen.
• You can show this booklet to health workers (e.g. doctors, midwives, social workers, etc) and tell them what things you would like to happen.
• Your baby or child has the right to grow up in their culture. It is OK to keep asking workers until they help you or find someone who can.

When things don’t work out

• Some of us have had bad experiences in hospital or with services and have been treated poorly. If this has happened to you, know it is not your fault and you are not alone, others have been there too.
• You don’t have to accept being treated poorly or discriminated against. If you feel you have been, ask to talk to a service or hospital leader, like the practice manager or ward supervisor, and be calm and polite when you report your experience.
• Sometimes connecting to culture can help us feel safe and reassured – just knowing there is a spiritual connection there for us.
• It you have had a difficult birth, or your child has been really sick, it can be helpful to connect with other parents who have similar experiences. Try to find connections online, at community centres or in playgroups.
• Remember it is your right to make a complaint if you want to. You can ask a service about their complaints process and ask for help to make a complaint.
• If you are feeling worried or no good, you can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 to talk confidentially to another Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person. It will be a culturally safe conversation with no judgement.
• If you are really struggling with pregnancy or early parenting, and your mental health is suffering, reach out to organisations like PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia). They have a confidential helpline (Monday to Saturday): phone 1300 726 306. There’s also an online space for Indigenous parents with an anonymous mental health quiz.

When bad things from the past, come into our present

For those of us looking to break cycles of trauma, the booklet Koori parenting, what works for us shares ideas from Aboriginal parents with childhood trauma on what helped them break cycles of intergenerational trauma.

What’s next? Choose from: