‘Overlooked’ birth issues leaving mums in pain, with depression or anxiety

Shocking numbers from a Melbourne-led study show the childbirth complications women are suffering — causing pain, depression, anxiety and secondary infertility.

Medium and long-term complications of labour and childbirth have been overlooked, according to a new Melbourne-led study.

Women’s health is neglected after they give birth, with millions suffering complications for months, years or even a lifetime, major Melbourne-led research has found.

Some conditions were so common they impacted almost a third of women, with researchers calling for greater research into the “underappreciated and overlooked” complications mothers face.

The Burnet Institute-led paper, published in the Lancet Global Health, reviewed multiple global studies and found more than a third of post-partum women experience pain during sex, while 32 per cent suffer lower back pain.

Incontinence impacted between 8 and 31 per cent of women and at least one in ten suffered from secondary infertility, pain, depression or anxiety.

Burnet senior principal research fellow Joshua Vogel said labour and childbirth were “major contributors to many long-term health conditions that are often underappreciated and overlooked”.

New data shows how women’s health is declining after giving birth.

“Ensuring women get respectful, evidence-based care during labour and childbirth is critical to preventing these complications from happening in the first place,” Professor Vogel said.

He said more research was needed to ensure women get treated for “longer-term complications”, which can emerge after standard post-natal care ends, but there were also actions that healthcare systems can take now.

“These conditions can impair many aspects of women’s lives, from social participation to employment opportunities and personal relationships,” he said.

Co-author Caroline Homer said a “substantial” portion of the population was “living with illness, trauma or pain”.

“Many of these health issues are sadly common and often women feel too ashamed or embarrassed to raise these concerns,” Professor Homer said.

“What we would like to come out of this series is further research into how healthcare providers can better recognise these problems, but also how they can prevent them happening in the first place.

“We need to see health policies that reflect the needs of these women.”

Professor Vogel said women needed support from primary healthcare providers.

“Managing long-term complications after childbirth can often involve lots of different healthcare specialties,” he said.

“We need to ensure health services are integrated and co-ordinated, so that women have access to good-quality care.”