Waijungbah Jarjums Covid-19 Update
In a rapidly changing environment, we remain firmly focused on ensuring the best outcomes for our people. We've made some temporary changes to protect you, your jarjums, your families, our community and our staff. The Waijungbah Jarjums community space is open and operating usual business hours and all our staff are masked and double vaccinated. If you would rather not be in the community environment please let one of our team know and we can arrange telehealth appointments where appropriate.
Updates to services:
Antenatal:
- booking in antenatal visits via telehealth
- recommended visit schedule via telehealth and normal GP visits less than 24 weeks Download here
- routine antenatal face to face visits to commence from 24 weeks at Smith Street community space. Ask you midwife/child health worker for assistance with travel if required.
Birthing:
- on call birthing service will continue with your Waijungbah jarjums midwife/team
- 2 x support people in labour and birth (vaccinated or unvaccinated)
- if you meet criteria for early discharge between 4-6 hours after birth, it is highly recommended you take advantage of this service and receive postnatal care at home instead of in the hospital
- unvaccinated support people will not be permitted to stay on the ward if you are admitted.
Postnatal:
- routine postpartum care stay on the ward has been reduced to minimise the risk of covid-19 transmission
- routine home visiting postpartum care from day 1-5 (as previous) with your primary midwife/team
- day 7 -10: recommended GP visit
- discharge from Waijungbah Jarjums into Child Health (mainstream service) at 2 weeks
- telehealth to continue past this time if required, on individual basis
- Waijungbah Jarjums Child Health service will resume at reduced capacity this month (Jan), returning to regular hours from February in collaboration with mainstream Child Health services.
- we will endeavour to ensure Aunty Amarlee is present (in person or via telehealth) to support you culturally when referrals are made to mainstream services. If you are not asked or prompted if you wish to be supported by Aunty Amarlee, please don’t be shame to ask.
Antenatal Classes and Yarning Circles:
- At this time all face to face antenatal classes, yarning circles and groups have been cancelled. We are working on moving antenatal classes back online and will continue to update you on this, their availability and schedule.
Djan yimaba, ngali yawang, ngali yadhung, ngalui ngura! (Thank you, stay safe, stay strong, stay home! in Ngunnawal) If you have any questions, please reach out to your midwife.
See COVID-19 support and resources here
Get in touch
Our Centre hours: Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm
Community Hub:
132 Smith Street Southport, QLD 4215
Waijungbah.Jarjums@health.qld.gov.au
Visit our Healthier You page to access information on a range of different health topics and connect to free and low cost programs and services that can help you maintain health and well being.
Waijungbah Jarjums service
Keeping you and bubba, happy and healthy
Waijungbah Jarjums means place of mother and child and is a one-stop community service that provides continuity of care for you and your family throughout pregnancy, birth and as your little one grows. Our service offers continuity of care by a known Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander midwife and child health nurse from conception to the first 1000 days (2 years).
At Waijungbah Jarjums, we offer:
- antenatal and postnatal education
- Indigenous-led hypnobirthing course
- breastfeeding support
- blood tests and vaccinations
- healthy hearing screening
- child health assessments
- cultural connection and yarning circles
- Welcome Jarjum to Community events
- home visits or care in a location that suit you
- support with transport and parking options.
You will receive:
- your own midwife who will provide antenatal care, will be on call for your labour and birth and provide postnatal care up to six weeks
- a child health nurse who will provide care from six weeks until your jarjum is two
- a health worker who will support the delivery of culturally safe care and navigation through the healthcare system.
Our staff
All Waijungbah Jarjums permanent staff identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and are passionate about providing culturally safe care tailored to your individual and family needs. The team brings their lived experience as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to their practice and will help you explore your ancestral cultural birthing and parenting knowledge along your journey.
Our staff can also connect you to other Gold Coast support services to help you as your jarjum grows.
Who can access the service?
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and women whose baby will identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
Where are my appointments?
Appointments can be at home, our one-stop community space, in hospital or at a convenient location for you depending on your recommended care.
Do I need a Doctor’s referral?
No, just send us an email, give us a call or pop into our community spaces.
Are there fees?
The service is free for Medicare-eligible families.
Program Success
Waijungbah Jarjum connects you to your culture, leading to healthier outcomes for Indigenous mothers and their babies
Our service has achieved:
- improved low birth weights
- increased numbers of mothers choosing to breastfeed
- reduction in premature births and higher attendances for antenatal appointments.
Child health support
Support for you and bub
A child health nurse will provide care from six weeks until your jarjum is two. We can also offer health worker support to help you navigate the healthcare system and ensure the delivery of culturally safe care. Our nurses can support you in breastfeeding, parenting, health, growth and development, sleep and settling, home visits, scheduled health checks. We offer open consultations to discuss parenting experiences and your child's health and development—intensive home visiting is available for selected families.
Deadly Dads, Deadly kids
Deadly Dads is for fathers of babies born through Waijungbah Jarjums
Our Deadly Dads program runs a range of healing activities, events and workshops with a focus on reconnecting to culture and exploring the role of fathers in growing their children strong.
The meetings encourage dads to be their deadly best and gather together in yarning circles. The group encourages each other to be great leaders in their families, providing valuable love, nurturing, learning and role modelling.
Cultural activities
Welcome Jarjum to Country Ceremony
For thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have held Welcome Baby to Country ceremonies to acknowledge a baby’s connection to the lands they are born.
The Welcome Baby to Country ceremony acknowledges an infant’s connection to the traditional lands on which they are born and a celebration of their births. During the ceremony, Yugambeh Elders offer smoking cleanse and blessings and mark newborns with ochre, signifying the land, and welcomed them to the Country.
The newborns will go into life knowing who they are and the Country they belong to, and they can take pride in their culture, traditions, and identity.
Yarning Circles
A yarning, story or dialogue circle is an important part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture
It has been used by Indigenous peoples from around the world for centuries to learn from a collective group, build respectful relationships, and preserve and pass on cultural knowledge. At Waijungbah Jarjums, we have both men's and women's yarning circles and meet regularly to connect to culture
Artwork story
The artwork for Waijungbah Jarjums was created by Britney and Stefanie Noffke
The main focus of this artwork is the powerful way a baby brings people together.
All generations; kids, teenagers, adults, grandparents and kinship network. It represents the beauty in the community honouring the arrival of the baby into the physical world. This is depicted in the centre of the painting around the birthing tree. The symbols in the sky are our elders looking down on us, protecting us, and guiding us.
The eagle is ‘Mibbin’ and is the protector and totem for the Yugambeh Speaking People.
The tree is a Boab tree is the tree of life as it holds lots of water. Its big-belly represents the pregnancy. It is also a medicine tree that’s seeds are a good source of Vitamin C and Calcium. The bark is used to treat fevers. It symbolises the growth of a baby and symbolises the kinship, the DNA, the lineage, the womb, and the love felt by all.
The Lily represents that not every family has an easy journey and that some journeys may start off like the Lily in muddy or murky water, but through the journey, a beautiful creation is made. The flowers represent the stages of the nine-month pregnancy with the increase of size for gestation.
Other symbols in the painting represent family, the three trimesters (circles to each side), elders and children learning Dreamtime stories. The two rivers represent both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture coming together.
