How you can help make change for birthing mothers with the NSW Inquiry into Birth Trauma

One in three Australian mothers suffer trauma during childbirth. Now we have one huge chance to make sure no other mum experiences the same abuse, coercion and flow-on mental health conditions that is too often ignored.

One in three Australian mothers say giving birth is traumatic.

It's a problem that researchers say is overlooked, getting worse, and contributing to exploding mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.

Now, for the first time, Australians have been given a chance to change this and make childbirth and postpartum much better for every future birthing mother.

In July, the NSW Parliament launched an Australian-first committee to inquire and report on birth trauma.

The Government wants to hear about birth experiences, both those that are traumatic, as well as the positive stories that can help show how and why a childbirth went well.

Mums, midwives, doctors and doulas are now shouting out for families and health workers to share their stories to help make change, not just in NSW, but for the entire country.

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Mums and maternity care providers are encouraged to write submissions for NSW inquiry. Source: iStock.

"We need to have a change"

Dr Hazel Keedle from Western Sydney University, lead researcher of Australia's largest survey on women's birth experiences, spoke on a recent podcast about the inquiry after helping get it off the ground.

Her recent study in December found one in 10 women in the past five years were made to feel violated, powerless or dehumanised while giving birth, and experienced treatment that amounted to “obstetric violence”.

The women reported having disrespectful or abusive care such as verbal, physical and emotional abuse, while others shared experiences of physical assault, such as forcible restraint or being held down.

"We need to have a change, one in three women experiencing birth trauma, one in ten experiencing obstetric violence, that's not OK, when we put that across Australia, that's thousands of women a year," she says on The Great Birth Rebellion podcast. 

She said this NSW inquiry was "major" and it is up to us to "make the best of this opportunity".

"We've all got a role in making sure it is listened to, people do put in submissions, people do go to hearings and share stories... and then hold them accountable for their recommendations," she says. 

RELATED: Coming to terms with a traumatic birth

“We don’t want to Band-Aid it, we want to prevent it"

Co-host of The Great Birth Rebellion podcast, midwife and core and pelvic floor specialist, Bernadette Lack got emotional pleading for people to share their experiences for this unprecedented opportunity. 

"This is the starting block, if we don’t get this right, the rest of the country is not going to get a chance," she says. 

Through tears she adds, “I spent the whole weekend starting to train people in healing birth trauma, but I don’t want to keep doing that, I don’t want it to exist anymore, and if we don’t, if the government doesn’t get enough submissions, then they go 'this isn’t a thing and nothing will be done'.

“We don’t want to Band-Aid it any more, we want to prevent it.”

“We have this incredible opportunity now to make change.”

RELATED: ‘My birth was emotionally traumatic, I felt unsafe’

How to have your say

You can share your views and experiences by making a written submission to NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into birth trauma.

The Select Committee will read the submissions, run hearings, and then come up with recommendations based on everything they've heard. Submissions will close on Tuesday, August 15. 

If you don't know where to start to write a submission about your experience of birth related traum, Better Births Illawarra have developed prompting questions as well as a helpful video to help guide you.

“We hope the Inquiry are flooded with stories so we can create change, so please, if you do one thing today, share with friends, family members, your mothers group, parent group, and colleagues,” the organisation says online.

MAKE YOUR SUBMISSION HERE.

Originally published as How you can help make change for birthing mothers with the NSW Inquiry into Birth Trauma