NSW PARLIAMENTRAY INQUIRY INTO BIRTH TRAUMA
In June 2023, NSW Parliament launched a committee to examine the alarming rates of birth trauma in NSW. The high percentage of the 4,860 total submissions from NSW that came from the Illawarra saw one of the Public Hearings held in Wollongong in August 2023 where Better Births Illawarra gave testimony alongside brave local women.
As a community organisation we are committed to ensuring women in NSW have access to empowered births. A necessary part of that is to see preventable birth trauma eliminated.
Through our work with women and birthing people and their families, we know women in and out of the Illawarra do not have access to empowered births. Alongside these women, we worked to expose the heart-wrenchingly high rates of birth trauma in NSW.
Better Births Illawarra has played a key role in ensuring the inquiry heard firsthand the experiences of women birthing in our communities and across the NSW health system. We helped thousands of everyday women and families make often very painful submissions of their own traumatic birth experiences. We sat with women, cried with women, translated for women. We attended every hearing, supporting these women to give evidence alongside supporting the communities affected by birth trauma and the inquiry.
Through Better Birth Illawarra’s experience working with birthing women, we understand that the issues facing women in the Illawarra affect women statewide. From Wagga Wagga to Byron Bay, we know women and families are experiencing trauma at the hands of our maternity care system.
The hearings of the Legislative Council Select Committee on Birth Trauma, including the evidence of the many courageous women, have exposed the heart-wrenchingly high rates of birth trauma in NSW and the effects it has on our communities. The Committee’s work and the evidence presented demand an immediate and meaningful response from both the NSW health system and the Government. We continue to engage actively in this process.
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MEDIA
Please see the media reports, articles and TV features surrounding the Inquiry.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The piblic hearings are part of the Inquiry. They are an opportunity for the Select Commitee members to hear from people who made submissions.
Sydney 11th March 2024 - Access the transcript and Video recording of the proceedings.
Wagga Wagga 12th Dec - Access the transcript and Video recording of the proceedings
Sydney 9th Oct - Access the transcript and Video recording of the proceedings.
Wollongong 7th Sept - Access the transcript and Video recording of the proceedings.
Wollongong Public Hearing Speakers included:
Ms Jessica Holliday - Mother
Ms Naomi Bowden - Mother
Ms Amanda Macaulay - Mother
Ms Carly - Mother
Ms Olivia Prain - Mother
Ms Aimee Keating - Mother
Ms Sharon Settecasse Vice President, Better Births Illawarra
Ms Alyssa Booth Secretary, Better Births Illawarra
Ms Fiona Reid Clinical midwife consultant
Ms Margot Mains Chief Executive, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District
Ms Maria Flynn Executive Director Nursing Midwifery and Clinical Governance, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District
Dr Andrew Woods Senior Clinical Advisor Obstetrics, Health and Social Policy Branch, Ministry of Health
Sydney 4th September - Access the transcript and Video recording of the proceedings.