Table 1.
Classification of remoteness for mother’s usual place of residence
| DHF Health District | Darwin Urbana | Darwin Rural | Katherine | East Arnhem | Barkly | Alice Springs Urban | Alice Springs Rural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Area[19] |
3,122 km2 |
123,053 km2 |
344,957 km2 |
40,376 km2 |
294,640 km2 |
349 km2 |
545,707 km2 |
|
Estimated Resident Population (2004)[20] | |||||||
|
Indigenous |
10,682 (9.9%) |
10,097 (73.0%) |
9,084 (49.2%) |
8,813 (63.1%) |
3,284 (59.5%) |
5,182 (19.0%) |
9,744 (77.5%) |
|
Non-Indigenous |
97,637 (90.1%) |
3,728 (27.0%) |
9,390 (50.0%) |
5,153 (36.9%) |
2,239 (40.5%) |
22,050 (81.0%) |
2,830 (22.5%) |
|
Total |
108,319 (100%) |
13,825 (100%) |
18,474 (100%) |
13,966 (100%) |
5,523 (100%) |
27,232 (100%) |
12,574 (100%) |
|
Health service outlets[19] |
4 |
16 |
22 |
13 |
8 |
2 |
32 |
|
Birthing facilities available[21] |
Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) Darwin Private Hospital (DPH) |
Women go to RDH for birth |
Katherine District Hospital (KDH) |
Gove District Hospital (GDH) |
Tennant Creek Hospital (TCH) |
Alice Springs Hospital (ASH) |
Women go to ASH for birth |
|
Total number of births per region for 2003-2005 | |||||||
|
Indigenous |
636 (12.1%) |
749 (81.9%) |
656 (58.7%) |
690 (74.6%) |
264 (74.8%) |
351 (26.9%) |
600 (90.6%) |
|
Non-Indigenous |
4,614 (87.9%) |
165 (18.1%) |
461 (41.3%) |
235 (25.4%) |
89 (25.2%) |
955 (73.1%) |
62 (9.4%) |
|
Total |
5,250 (100%) |
914 (100%) |
1,117 (100%) |
925 (100%) |
353 (100%) |
1,306 (100%) |
662 (100%) |
|
Region |
TE |
TE |
TE |
TE |
CA |
CA |
CA |
|
Remote/Urbanstatus used in this study[21] |
Urban |
Remote |
Katherine town – Urban Remainder of cases - Remote |
Nhulunbuy town – Urban Remainder of cases - Remote |
Tennant Creek town - Urban Remainder of cases -Remote |
Urban |
Remote |
| Comments | RDH serves as a referral centre for the TE, Western Australia and South-East Asia. DPH started operations in 1987. Quality of reporting births to the NTMC stabilised after 1989. | Maternity services were discontinued during 2005 with subsequent births occurring at ASH. | Some ASH cases are referred to Adelaide, South Australia (1,500 km to the south of Alice Springs, Darwin is 1,500 km north of the town.) | ||||
a Includes the capital city, Darwin.