Indigenous women journeying though pregnancy with the added complication of rheumatic heart disease have the best outcomes with collaborative and culturally appropriate care according to the lead researcher in a four-year study of the issue.
"Worldwide, rheumatic heart disease remains a marker of health inequality and inequity," said Professor Elizabeth Sullivan, public health physician, epidemiologist and Associate Dean (Research) in the UTS Faculty of Health.
"It is the paradox of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia and New Zealand that less than four in 10,000 women giving birth in Australia have rheumatic heart disease – yet more than two per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the Northern Territory journey through pregnancy with this condition each year. A similarly high prevalence is seen among Maori and Pacific Islander women in major urban centres of the North Island of New Zealand."
Rheumatic heart disease is a rare, under-researched condition, where chronic damage to the heart valves is caused by acute rheumatic fever, a bacterial infection in the throat or skin.
Read the full article on the Newsroom: The heart of the matter for Indigenous mothers