Ballina mum Claire Lozano shares ‘traumatic’ birth story at packed Lennox Head Birth Trauma Awareness Event

A North Coast mum who suffered a distressing birth has shared her story at a packed awareness event, following the launch of a parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma.

A North Coast mum who suffered a traumatic birth in a public hospital has shared her story at a regional awareness event attended by hundreds of parents and other community members.

Claire Lozano was one of the key speakers at a packed Birth Trauma Awareness Event at Lennox Head Cultural Centre on Tuesday.

It comes as NSW Parliament has launched a committee to inquire and report on birth trauma.

Mrs Lozano said she was a first-time mother living in Sydney when she gave birth to her daughter Trinity in 2020 and she felt let down by the system.

The crowd at the Birth Trauma Awareness Event at Lennox Head Cultural Centre.

The 34-year-old, who now lives in Ballina, said she felt she had to agree to medical procedures that were not properly explained and went against her birth preferences.

Mrs Lozano said she went to hospital at 39 weeks pregnant for a scan after her baby measured slightly smaller than average.

She said during the scan she was told the placenta “might be starting to expire” and it would be better to get the baby out soon in case the placenta shut down.

North Coast mum Claire Lozano was thrilled to meet Trinity - but says her birth was a “traumatic” ordeal. Picture: Supplied

“I was put into a day room in the birthing suite and I had a monitor stuck on me,” she said.

“A doctor came along and said he wanted to admit me and I explained my husband’s at work and I haven’t packed anything. But he said they needed to monitor me because they were worried she (the baby) could die.

“They didn’t explain what they meant by the placenta shutting down and they used a lot of fear-based language.”

Mrs Lozano said she was induced into labour at 6am the following day, but procedures were not discussed with her.

“I don’t even know what was injected into my body – nobody explained anything.”

Mrs Lozano said the doctor “came running in” about 2.30pm and said the baby was not doing well, was showing signs of stress and an emergency caesarean section was recommended.

“I was told I could keep trying a little longer but the team of specialists who did the C-section might not be at the hospital later because their shift might end.”

North Coast mum Claire Lozano and Trinity. Picture: Supplied

“I was so tired and everything was sore, so I agreed to it. But I wasn’t told anything about side effects or what was going to happen, I was just rolled to the theatre.

“I was sitting on the operating table in my gown with the back open and there were surgeons shouting at each other. I was still having contractions at this point and just waiting for the epidural.

“Once they got the epidural in, they laid me down and the curtain went up and I said to the main surgeon ‘please, please delay the cord clamping’.”

“But as soon as she came out, they cut her cord, wrapped her up and took her away. That (delayed cord clamping) was the one thing I wanted.”

Research from the University of Sydney and other institutions indicates umbilical cord clamping is beneficial for infants.

Mrs Lozano spoke about the birth of daughter Trinity at a packed Birth Trauma Awareness Event at Lennox Head Cultural Centre. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Lozano said she felt “traumatised” after her daughter was born and found it difficult to talk about the birth.

“I was embarrassed I didn’t get the birth I wanted. She (the baby) didn’t come out naturally and it was rushed. It was a let down.”

Mrs Lozano’s experience is not an isolated case, according to industry experts, who came together to raise awareness about birth-related and peri-natal trauma.

National Charity Hygieia Health, a non-profit working to prevent birth trauma, held the free event.

Hygieia Health co-founder Jane Hardwicke Collings said trauma during pregnancy, childbirth and looking after a newborn can have long-lasting effects on mums and children, including impacting their ability to bond long-term.

“While we can’t ever fully stop trauma from happening in birth ... we do know that around 70 per cent of it is caused by what the midwives and doctors do and say and that is preventable,” she said.

Tane Luna, obstetrician, Jerusha Sutton, doula and co-creator of the Birth Time documentary, Laura Latina, Compassionate Inquiry, Rhea Dempsey, doula, educator and author, Naomi Jannson, Chinese medicine practitioner and Dr Oscar Serrallach, Functional Medicine and author of The Postnatal Depletion Cure, at the event.

“This is what we are here to talk about – how to stop it from happening and how to help heal it if it does happen.

“We need to work together as a community – within the system and without, to support better birthing experiences for all.”

Experts such as Lismore Hospital Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr Tane Luna spoke at the event.

Free national perinatal mental health support service Gidget Foundation states it’s estimated one in three Australian mothers experiences birth trauma.