Raising Awareness of Birth Trauma
Prevention is better than cure
Did you know one in three women in Australia experience birth trauma? Of the 100,000 women each year who experience birth trauma, 70,000 experience it due to mistreatment and disrespectful care.
That's why one of the best ways to prevent birth trauma is to ensure women have access to continuity of care with a known care provider. Unfortunately, less than one in eight birthing women in Australia have access to such models of maternity care.
One of MCA's main goals is to advocate for better access to continuity of care in order to prevent more women from suffering birth trauma.
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Connect with this important Maternal Mental Health discussion
NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma
Following a number of complaints from women birthing in NSW hospitals and the campaigning of organisations such as MCA, a Select Committee to inquire into and report on birth trauma was established in June 2023 and was chaired by Animal Justice MLC Emma Hurst,
The Committee invited submissions from women, members of the community and organisations about their experiences and views on birth trauma, including experiences of obstetric violence, lack of informed consent and harassment by healthcare providers. Submissions closed on 15 August 2023 and MCA presented a lengthy submission and response to questions at an inquiry hearing in September, which you can find below.
MCA's submission to the NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry
MCA's evidence given at the Inquiry
MCA's responses to Questions on Notice
On 29 May 2024 the Committee submitted their final report. The NSW Government will deliver their response by 29 August 2024.​
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Best Birth Finder
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Did you know you can submit your feedback on the service you received at hospital? Hospitals do have formal feedback channels, but when thrust into life as a newborn mother, and recovering from a traumatic birth, it can be too difficult to even find the relevant email addresses, let believe in the possibility of a meaningful outcome.
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That's why we developed Best Birth Finder - a system for women to share their experiences and receive a draft feedback email with relevant email addresses. By sharing their experiences, other women can find reviews of birth services and hospitals have a much better chance of receiving feedback from their community.
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Save our Maternity System campaign​
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The issues of concern behind this campaign from 2019 are unfortunately still so relevant. Sign up to our newsletter to stay in touch with the issues as they develop.