Mary Champion places her hand on baby Sean’s head, whispering a blessing.
Unlike the other 20 or so cooing and crying babies attending a smoking ceremony in Kalgoorlie, 600 kilometres east of Perth, he is sound asleep, blissfully unaware he is being welcomed into a world that was not quite expecting him.
Indigenous babies, accompanied by their mums, have assembled for a relatively new ceremony in the mining town, where elders formally welcome them into the world.
Unlike a lot of the other parents present, Sean’s mum Kiara Trigwell had no idea she was pregnant until she went into labour.
Known as a cryptic pregnancy, the condition is rare but not uncommon, impacting about one in every 2,500 births.
Eleven weeks ago, when she started having strong abdominal pain, she was rushed to Kalgoorlie hospital.
Kiara was expecting to be told she had suffered a ruptured cyst — something that had happened to her before.
But after feeling her stomach, the nurse told the 21-year-old something she was not expecting: she was pregnant and just about to go into labour.
“She said: ‘Oh, you are pregnant, you seem to be about 36 weeks’,” Kiara said.
“I was like, what?! I zoned out.”
In the following 24 hours, her waters broke.
The young mum says with no baby bump, no missed periods, and two negative pregnancy tests her body did not give her any warning she was pregnant.
It is not surprising her mind needed a little time to adjust to the idea she was a mother.
Suddenly new parents, Kiara and her partner Sean were in a state of disbelief.
“I was just in shock. You just read all that stuff on the internet. But it happened in real life,” she says.
“The labour part was very, very painful, but once I saw him, everything kind of went away.
“Dad was happy. I was happy. Everyone was happy.”
Supporting younger babies
Baby Sean and his young parents have the support of their large loving family, which has helped them with everything from getting baby clothes to getting some sleep.
Not all other Indigenous babies are as lucky.
Data from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) shows a gap in early childhood development between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.
In 2021, 34.3 per cent of Australian First Nations children starting school were assessed as being developmentally on track in all five AEDC domains: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language, cognitive and communication skills, and general knowledge.
This was a decrease from 35.2 per cent in 2018 and was below the target trajectory proportion for 2021 of 39.8 per cent.
The national Closing the Gap strategy aims to increase this figure to 55 per cent by 2031.
Connected Beginnings, a national initiative that supports First Nations children from birth to school age, was created to help achieve that target.
In Kalgoorlie, in WA’s Goldfields, the program is delivered by Wanslea and Bega Garnbirringu, where baby Sean goes for his appointments and where his mum heard about the Welcome to the World Ceremony.
Celebrate and connect
At the annual event, Indigenous babies born in WA’s Goldfields are welcomed into the community with a traditional blessing and a smoking ceremony.
Ana King, one of the organisers, says it is a celebration of life and culture.
“It gives them a sense of belonging to their country and our community,” she says.
Ms King says community consultation shows new Indigenous mothers often feel a mistaken sense of shame.
This celebration wants to replace that feeling with pride.
“Some people feel shame, and that shouldn’t be. You are bringing something special into the world,” Zoe Thomas, Bega’s health promotion officer, says.
“It’s just making it special for the babies and mothers.”
But the ceremony also gives the chance for new parents to connect with each other and to services.
Bega runs a regular healthy cook-up event and a weekly school readiness class that Ms King says is making a difference.
“After a few sessions, you see kids who could not even sit down before engage and listen,” she says.
Kiara is considering attending a few classes with baby Sean.
She was not prepared to become a mum, but she is relieved her son is healthy and happy and she wants to ensure he is as prepared for school as he can be.
She says statistics showing Indigenous children lagging behind are “scary”, but she has faith that her surprise baby “will be right”.
He is growing up with many cousins and the love of his family, but services are there for those who don’t have the same support.
“I reckon if I didn’t have the support, I wouldn’t be OK,” Kiara says.
“I guess that’s why they have all these services because some people are not that lucky to have help.”