DISTRESSING CONTENT WARNING: This story discusses birth trauma, and postnatal anxiety and depression.
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The MP leading the NSW parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma will visit Wollongong this week, as more Illawarra women speak up about their own experiences of traumatic birth.
Animal Justice MLC Emma Hurst will on Wednesday attend a Birth Trauma Awareness Event, hosted by advocacy group Better Births Illawarra, where experts will share their insights on how to address the widespread issue.
Ms Hurst is the chair of the upper house select committee established last month, which will focus on investigating and preventing cases where maternity care providers compounded or contributed to trauma.
Better Births Illawarra (BBI) says it is contacted each week with women seeking support for birth trauma, which can be psychological, emotional or physical trauma experienced during labour, birth or postpartum.
"This event is to raise awareness of birth trauma, help families access the support they need to heal from trauma, and discuss strategies to prevent birth related trauma in the first place," BBI vice president Sharon Settecase said.
The group says the main cause of birth trauma is what is done or said to women by their maternity care providers.
Since the NSW Parliament Birth Trauma Committee was launched last month, a number of local women have come forward to share their stories.
Not a new problem
Lee-Anne Hart's traumatic birth was 28 years ago, but the psychological and physical scars it left remain.
The Dapto woman had her second child, daughter Millie, at Shellharbour hospital in 1995 and remembers an excruciating birth which was followed by weeks of complications and long-term internal injuries.
"I gave birth to my daughter twice," she said.
"Because the doctor said she was coming out 'the wrong way' as she crowned, so he pushed her back in and told me 'now let's start again'."
"The pain was excruciating, and I knew it wasn't supposed to be like that, because I'd had a baby before."
"I told them it didn't seem right, but they didn't listen."
Two weeks later, Ms Hart was still extremely sick and in pain, and ended up having two massive haemorrhages which sent her back to hospital.
Eventually, she was given a procedure that left permanent scarring in her uterus, which meant she would be unable to carry another baby.
"Years later I did fall pregnant and miscarried," she said.
"Having the choice of whether to have more children taken from a woman has a devastating effect, and this was compounded even more when I miscarried.
"I blamed myself for a long time. And I still think about that child I could have had."
Ms Hart said she believed an inquiry into birth trauma and the way women have been treated during labour and birth is long-overdue.
"I think it's fantastic that it's happening, but should have been done before," she said.
"For me, the main problem was the complete lack of concern for me as a patient. I wasn't even considered as a person and nobody would listen to me."
'I wish they had listened to me'
More recently, 19-year-old Adelai, of Dapto, says she had had a traumatic birth, when her son, Kamden, was born at Wollongong Hospital.
Her experience started with an induction which led to an emergency caesarean.
"I had some pains that had been ongoing, so I was told I needed to be induced,' she said.
"I was put on the gel, which burnt some of my cervix and I was in a lot of pain. My waters actually broke that day, but they kept telling me they didn't - that I had just wet myself."
She said she spent a long time labouring in the maternity ward, waiting 24 hours before she could move to the birthing unit.
After a long time in labour, when she began pushing, doctors told her she would require the use of forceps or to have an emergency caesarean to give birth as her son was in a posterior position and under stress.
"I said I wanted the c-section, but when they took me to the theatre, they tried to perform the forceps even though I said not to," she said.
"Then they did a c-section, took the baby out and I lost almost a litre of blood. They had to take my uterus and bladder out to wash it all - because the baby had pooed in me - because there was a risk of infection.
"I blacked out, and I was in the operating theatre for nearly four hours."
Adelai said she also had complications after her birth, but struggled to get help in the maternity ward.
"They were so shortstaffed, we were pressing the buzzer some nights and it would be 25 minutes before anyone would come," she said.
"We ended up coming home after four days."
Adelai was then in and out of hospital for the days and weeks afterwards seeking treatment for pain and infection, and said she remains shell-shocked by the birth.
"I'd hoped for a natural birth," she said.
"I think if they'd have listened to me, some of it could have been avoided quite easily. Everything I said was downplayed."
"They robbed me of my first three weeks with my first baby and it still makes me angry. It's supposed to be a happy time in your life, and instead it was a sad, miserable and horrible time for me."
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District does not comment on individual patients, but has acknowledged that some women experience birth trauma.
A spokesperson said the hospital works to support these women.
"This may include postnatal debriefing and referrals to appropriate support services," she said.
"It may also include an investigation into the clinical care that was provided, in consultation with the woman and her family, with these outcomes used to improve future maternity care."
The upper house select committee is inviting community members to make submissions, which can can be lodged through the inquiry webpage until Friday 11 August 2023.
For help contact:
- Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7) or text 0477 13 11 14.
- Mental Health Line 1800 011 511.
- PANDA National Helpline (Monday to Saturday) 1300 726 306 or website. PANDA's National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline is Australia's only free national helpline for people affected by changes to their mental health and emotional wellbeing during the perinatal period.
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