A cohort of Indigenous Australian women and their children through pregnancy and beyond: the Gomeroi gaaynggal study

Abstract

Indigenous Australians have high rates of chronic diseases, the causes of which are complex and include social and environmental determinants. Early experiences in utero may also predispose to later-life disease development. The Gomeroi gaaynggal study was established to explore intrauterine origins of renal disease, diabetes and growth in order to inform the development of health programmes for Indigenous Australian women and children. Pregnant women are recruited from antenatal clinics in Tamworth, Newcastle and Walgett, New South Wales, Australia, by Indigenous research assistants. Measures are collected at three time points in pregnancy and from women and their children at up to eight time points in the child's first 5 years. Measures of fetal renal development and function include ultrasound and biochemical biomarkers. Dietary intake, infant feeding and anthropometric measurements are collected. Standardized procedures and validated tools are used where available. Since 2010 the study has recruited over 230 women, and retained 66 postpartum. Recruitment is ongoing, and Gomeroi gaaynggal is currently the largest Indigenous pregnancy-through-early-childhood cohort internationally. Baseline median gestational age was 39.1 weeks (31.5-43.2, n = 110), median birth weight was 3180 g (910-5430 g, n = 110). Over one third (39.3%) of infants were admitted to special care or neonatal nursery. Nearly half of mothers (47.5%) reported tobacco smoking during pregnancy. Results of the study will contribute to knowledge about origins of chronic disease in Indigenous Australians and nutrition and growth of women and their offspring during pregnancy and postpartum. Study strengths include employment and capacity-building of Indigenous staff and the complementary ArtsHealth programme.

Disparities exist between the dietary intake of Indigenous Australian women during pregnancy and the Australian dietary guidelines: the Gomeroi gaaynggal study

“…Further details of the Gomeroi gaaynggal study have been reported elsewhere (39) . Further details of the Gomeroi gaaynggal study have been reported elsewhere (39) .…”

“…The Gomeroi gaaynggal study is a prospective longitudinal cohort of Indigenous Australian mother-child dyads followed from pregnancy, through the post-natal period and up until the children are 5 years of age. Further details of the Gomeroi gaaynggal study have been reported elsewhere (39) . Recruitment began in 2010 and is still ongoing at the time of publication.…”

Risk factors associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy within an urban indigenous population in south western Sydney

“…The high rates of smoking in the sampled population were of some concern to the community engaged in the design and implementation of the current study. This is comparable to rates recently described in the Gomeroi gaaynggal study, which reports rates of 47% as was seen in the population reported here …”

“…This is comparable to rates recently described in the Gomeroi gaaynggal study, which reports rates of 47% as was seen in the population reported here. 29…”

A Brief Tool to Assess Image-Based Dietary Records and Guide Nutrition Counselling Among Pregnant Women: An Evaluation

“…In Tamworth, participants were also invited to participate through the Gomeroi gaaynggal Centre [34], an Indigenous research and ArtsHealth center. Participants were eligible if they were ≥18 years old, ≤24 weeks’ gestation, lived in Newcastle or Tamworth, had no current medical conditions, owned a smartphone, and were willing to use it to record their dietary intake for 3 days.…”