Around a third of women report that their experience of giving birth was traumatic. For some women, this can lead to a range of emotional health challenges, including difficulties bonding with their baby or childbirth-related PTSD. The impacts of birth trauma can also affect fathers and other non-birthing partners.
Over 4,000 submissions were received for the current NSW Senate Committee into Birth Trauma. Six hearings held across Sydney, Wollongong and Wagga Wagga over the past seven months have continued to amplify the voices of birthing and non-birthing parents, service providers, community organisations, researchers and professional groups. The Committee is expected to hand down its report on the experience and prevalence of physical and psychological birth trauma later this year. This report will also address contributing and exacerbating factors, short- and longer-term outcomes, and opportunities for prevention and early intervention.
The 2023 update of Australia’s Clinical Practice Guideline for Perinatal Mental Health also includes consensus-based recommendations for the prevention and management of psychological birth trauma among women. These include using tools like the Postnatal Risk Questionnaire (PNRQ) to gain knowledge about a woman’s risk of experiencing birth as traumatic.
Our own research using the Postnatal Risk Questionnaire (PNRQ) has showed that around 30% of women receiving care in our specialist mother-baby unit said that their experience of giving birth was disappointing or frightening. But help is available, and our mother-baby unit team are proud to support parents to care for their baby while recovering and caring for their own physical and emotional health.
