The first five years of life, affect our remaining. As a community, it is our responsibility to ensure safety and meaningful care during this critical time.
Some highlights from my work in this area over the years:
Producer 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.
Co-Founder & Development Director at PBB Media Incorporated, respected community-led ethical journalism and community building, nonprofit organisation hailing from Bundjalung Country.
NSW State President, Maternity Choices Australia
National President, Maternity Choices Australia
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.
Organiser of Maternity Consumer Voice on Midwifery-Led Continuity of Care national campaign
Maternal Mental Health Matters national 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
Support, fundraising and co-design of The BESt Study, the largest birth experience survey conducted in Australia.
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.
Director Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond Northern Rivers Flood Relief Hub, March-December 2022
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.
How we come into and are held in the world around us, shapes our relationship with ourselves, our care-takers, communities and the environment we live in. Children are born into the immediate care of their families. Gestational Mothers and their immediate family require immense support as they embark on the monumental journey of taking care of a newborn human.
As women we live in a society that is at once affording us freedoms that we haven’t had for centuries, maybe thousands of years and at the same time, restricts our innate biological imperatives through oppressive and controlling systems that are all too often too cumbersome to meaningfully change and cultures unwilling or too proud to self-reflect.
Since 2012 Annalee has participated in, organised and led change in the Maternity Healthcare system through work in her local community, state-wide across NSW, federally in Australia and internationally being a part of a powerful community of change-makers.
For over a decade Annalee has been involved in cross-pollinating vital ideas to the key stakeholders in maternity care and community care through her work with PBB Media, Advocacy and activism with Maternity Choices Australia, our longest standing national body representing and empowering families and women at all levels of government.
Birth Trauma Awareness Week Special Live-stream Event
Maternal Mental Health Matters hosts a special panel discussion for #BirthTrauma Awareness Week. Hosted by mother and maternity advocate Sally Cusack from Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond
Our panelists:
Professor Hannah Dahlen, Associate Dean, Research and Hdr
Debbie Gould from Birth Talk
Bashi Hazard, Human Rights in Childbirth Lawyer
Melanie Briggs & Cleone Wellington from the Waminda Indigenous Midwives
Dr Kirsten Small, BMedSc, MBBS, OB/GYN, specialist obstetrician gynaecologist
Dr Andrew Bissits, Director of Obstetrics, Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney
Dr Lauren Tober, BSc (Hons) DPsyc (Clinical) MAPS, Clinical Psychologist
Dr Erin Bowe, Clinical & Perinatal Psychologist and Coach
This event is brought to you by the Maternal Mental Health Matters Australia project, a collaboration between four peak Australian nonprofit consumer advocacy groups: Safe Motherhood For All, Maternity Choices Australia, Maternity Consumer Network & PBB Media Incorporated
Produced by Annalee Atia, PBB Media Incorporated
