While evidence increasingly points towards a need to reduce unnecessary interventions, interventions are rife in maternity care across the country, and in fact are steadily increasing, every year. Evidence also suggests that increases in interventions are not necessarily due to increases in need and that what overwhelmingly defines a person’s experience of intervention, is the hospital/service they receive healthcare from - not their physical status or health conditions.
If the statistics above (and much more alarming data not mentioned here) were similar in ANY other area of Healthcare, we would be squirming. While Trauma in childbirth is prevalent, it is more true to say that is has been normalised. The culture in communities, families and health facilities all help to define these experiences one way or another. Statistics and evidence alone are not enough to shift cultural beliefs and norms. We know that when health consumers meaningfully engage in their own healthcare journey and are supported in a respectful continuity model, outcomes are much better for the health consumer, and their care provider.
That’s where my work comes in. I help individuals, groups and organisations meaningfully engage and culture-evolve through cross-pollinating between stakeholders, understanding the context in which each stakeholder engages and strategising to create understanding, and new stories together.
Partner with Maternity Health Consumers - Meaningfully.
Prevent harm, add value, support physiology and contribute to whole family health + wellbeing.
1 in 3 women in Australia experience Childbirth as Traumatic. 1 in 1O women experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder post childbirth, with 1-2 women in every 1000, experiencing the unthinkable postnatal psychosis. In 2021, 8804 women responded to the BESt (birth experience study) survey and 6101 responses to the open text responses were analyzed. The study found amongst other insights, that women often blamed themselves for not being more informed.
About 300,000 women give birth every year in Australia, over 98% do so in a hospital setting. Distinguished global leader and expert in Maternity Healthcare, obstetrics and gynecology Dr Neel T Shah, clearly states that women and babies’ outcomes, come down to the culture in the specific location they give birth (paraphrasing, but please see more below in an interview I produced with Professor Shah in 2021). In short, the provision of services including meaningful exchange of information with women and families about childbirth and the whole perinatal period, directly impacts outcomes for families. Not so much women’s bodies failing, as is one of the prevalent archaic ‘beliefs’.
Health Consumer Engagement
for Academia
Research and Survey Design and consultation, dissemination of information to maternity care stakeholders, especially mothers and families and understanding how and why to meaningfully engage with stakeholders across the spectrum.
in Health
Consultation, representation and team education. I have sat on several key committees and boards supporting Health departments, federal, state and local, in designing and implementing meaningful consumer engagement tools and strategies.
for the Media
Media inquiries are welcome on the topics of Meaningful Consumer Engagement, the health and quality of Maternity Care in Australia, trends, statistics and current research, Birth Trauma and Maternal Mental Health, the first 2000 days, and building healthy communities.
Learn more about my direct experience in Maternity Health Consumer Engagement and below.
Where I fit in.
Maternity Health Consumer Advocacy and Representation, both independent and with recognised Australian NGO’s and Nonprofits.
Being a mother, the oldest sister of five siblings, an auntie and embedded in a strong community where I meet, connect and care for many families, has deeply informed how I approach my work in Maternity healthcare advocacy and representation. Lived experiences of my own, my nearest and dearest and the hundreds of women I have directly spoken with, alongside ongoing consultation and engagement with almost every maternity care stakeholder (from obstetricians, midwifes, hospital staff, CEO’s, admin, Government bodies, researchers, academics, insurance providers, lawyers, experts in global health and healthcare, and the list goes on) all form the bedrock of my understanding.
While I spent a few years at University studying Health Sciences, TCM & Art, I never specialised academically (something that I am now very grateful for). As a lifetime student, I’ve built a unique range of expertise through following my instincts and learning the most important elements that help clarify the enormous puzzle we face when engaging positive, systems reform.
Highlights from my work over the years:
I have been very fortunate to have had two powerful and positive birthing experiences of my own, and to be the bearer of good birthing stories from my mother and father. Fortunate to have attended a few births before I gave birth myself and fortunate to have developed a healthy and respectful relationship with my own body and self, before I became a mother.
After giving birth for the first time I realised that many around me were having negative and even horrific experiences. It simply could not be that these were all due to physiological dysfunction of the female body. And, it was simply not acceptable that so many women and families were suffering under the implications of traumatic birth, when so much of what I was hearing, seemed to be avoidable.
One day, a dear friend called me into this work and I said Yes. From there on, a significant part of my life has been dedicated to improving the lived experiences of everyone involved, and particularly our Mothers.
with Sally Cusack at the Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond Hub. Image by Lily HattenProducer and Presenter on the internationally acclaimed Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond live radio & Podcast program informing thousands of individuals from maternity health consumers, care providers across all sectors of maternity care, academia, government and communities across Australia and the world. Recognised as eligible for CPD points through ACM and other bodies.
Co-Founder & Development Director at PBB Media Incorporated, respected community-led ethical journalism and community building nonprofit on Bundjalung Country.
Producer of PBB Talks
NSW State President, Maternity Choices Australia and long term maternity consumer representative for northern NSW.
National President, Maternity Choices Australia, Australia’s longest standing independent maternity advocacy group.
CPAC - member of the Community Partnership Advisory Council to Northern NSW Local Health District Board, September 2019-March 2022
Byron Hospital Consumer Advisory Group, September 2019-March 2022
AIHW - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Maternity Data Development Project Advisory Group.
Support, fundraising and co-design (through consumer representative organisation engagement) of The BESt Study, the largest birth experience survey conducted in Australia.
Director Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond Northern Rivers Flood Relief Hub, March-December 2022
And thousands of hours ‘in the field’ speaking directly to thousands of people: women, mothers, fathers, parents, grandparents, support people, care providers across the maternity healthcare landscape and other key stakeholders, about direct lived experiences, alongside ongoing direct action and care for these communities, almost exclusively in a volunteer capacity.
Producer of Maternity Consumer Voice on Midwifery-Led Continuity of Care national campaign
Producer of Maternal Mental Health Matters national collaborative campaign during #birthtrauma awareness week reaching over 35,000 people.
Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond Media Inc x The Returning Indigenous Corporation - design and delivery of special full day retreat for Mothers and birth workers.
Setting up and maintaining ongoing ‘Birthkeepers’ circles, where individuals who work in the field of childbirth and maternity care can come together in a safe and supportive environment for informal debriefing and care.