From our Managing Director, Carla Finch |
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I am currently retreating as I prepare for the birth of my second baby, so not much from me until I emerge from my newborn baby bubble. However, we do extend a warm welcome to all our supporters and subscribers to attend our first public meeting as Maternity Choices Australia Ltd on Friday 17 November (see notice below). We intend to hold these meetings quarterly, so our next one will be in February 2024. At this meeting we'll be sharing our latest news and we're also keen to hear from you to find out what's happening in your corner of this big country! -Carla From the rest of the MCA Board: All our very best wishes to you Carla for a beautiful birth and a nourishing and restorative postpartum! At 40 weeks pregnant, Carla has just written to the Qld HM about the health service doing an inadequate job at engaging consumers in the development of Gold Coast Hospital! |
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Join us at our first quarterly public meeting! |
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MCA at the NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry, Sydney |
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MCA's Advocacy Manager, Azure Rigney, and Company Secretary, Sally Cusack, gave evidence at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma in Sydney on 4 September. They appeared second in the lengthy programme for the day, after RANZCOG and before Amy Dawes from the Aust. Birth Trauma Association, Hannah Dahlen PhD and Hazel Keedle PhD from the Australian Birth Experience Study, the Aust. College of Midwives, Bashi Kumar-Hazzard from Human Rights in Childbirth, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association and NSW Health. You can find the day's proceedings here, and Azure and Sally appear in the second hour. |
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Azure and Sally were invited to discuss in further detail MCA's submission, Sally in person and Azure online. Overall, they were pleased with how their questioning went, but it was clear there's a low level of understanding of the issues surrounding birth trauma in maternity services among committee members. |
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'Yes, we had a bit of an uphill battle, having to use precious time to point out the basics of the needs of a woman in labour and how a standard birth suite is contraindicated for physiological birth,' Sally said 'but the committee learned a lot through the day, which was evident from the questioning that took place in Day 2.' (Day 2 of the Inquiry included evidence of women who had experienced birth trauma at Wollongong Hospital, as well as testimonial by Sharon Settecasse and Alyssa Booth from Better Births Illawarra). MCA responds to Committee's supplementary questions MCA was asked to answer supplementary questions from the Committee, which are available here. This document includes our responses to two questions on notice regarding the Bureau of Health Information's (BHI) biannual maternity care survey and how routine 36-week obstetric appointments can lead to coercion for women. Specifically, Mr Greg Donnelly MLC asked how we could reconcile the rates of birth trauma we were referencing (up to 1 in 3 women, as recognised across Australia and similar to the rest of the developed world) with the results of the 2019 Maternity Care Survey by the BHI, as quoted in NSW Health's submission (p11), which found that 94% of women who responded to that survey described their maternity care as 'good' or 'very good'. Our detailed response regarding the shortcomings of the BHI's survey of postnatal women can be found here (from page 9). We also responded to Mr Mark Banasaik MLC's questions when he expressed doubt women are routinely coerced into tests and procedures during their standard 36-week obstetric appointment (from page 14). 'Day 2 of the hearings was so heart-wrenching, so compelling... hearing the women's stories... They really show why this Inquiry is so incredibly important,' Azure said. 'For stronger impact, it would have been ideal for MPs to have heard the raw consumer voice prior to industry and consumer reps translating their stories and the research evidence rather than dismissing our three decades of experience.' What's next for the Inquiry The next stage of the Inquiry is two more hearing dates, and perhaps another in January. The next hearings will be held 9 October at Parliament House in Sydney and 12 December in Wagga. These hearings are all open to the public. The committee is then due to report its findings on 1 February. |
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Have you discovered Best Birth Finder yet? |
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Have you ever thought how useful it would be to read reviews of your local birth service? Or you thought about sending your feedback to your birth service but have not been able to get around to it? After having a baby, there's barely time to look after yourself, let alone work out how to send feedback to your birth service. This is where Best Birth Finder (BBF) can help you. BBF is a free space for you to: Your reviews provide invaluable information for women coming up behind you who are looking for their best birth! Check out Best Birth Finder today and make your experience count! |
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MCA joins Parliamentary Friends of Maternal Health After sustained pressure from a coalition of maternity advocacy groups, a federal Parliamentary Friendship Group for maternal health has been established with a formal opening taking place on 7 September. Two MCA consumer reps, Catherine Bell and Azure Rigney, attended the opening and noted what a wonderful opportunity the event was to raise awareness of our cause, with many MPs popping in during it, albeit they found it very speech-heavy. We hope that future meetings will have a consumer-led approach and a clear agenda. Azure and Catherine attended Question Time prior to the event, which was an excellent demonstration of why we need to do what we do: an opposition pulling tactics in time wasting, and no actual discussion. This patriarchal structure is ineffective and aggressive, and the heckling culture and arrogance on display were appalling. |
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Come celebrate Homebirth Queensland's 40th Anniversary on 22 October! |
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Advocating for better maternity services amidst rise in roadside births in North Queensland MCA consumer rep Jessie Goetze has taken a leading role in lobbying Queensland Health and state and federal MPs about the vast distances women have had to travel for maternity services in Douglas Shire since the local MGP service shutdown in 2003. In 2020, she started photographing the women and families impacted by Mossman Hospital’s lack of maternity services to highlight the disparity between regional and metropolitan health care. Many women in the region have been forced to give birth on the roadside while trying to get to services, or to avoid this possibility, book in for scheduled c-sections or inductions, creating unnecessary risk and trauma. To support Jessie's work, please consider writing to local MPs to demand better access for North Queensland birthing women. You can find more information on advocacy for Queensland maternity services here. |
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Other consumer advocacy happenings around the country... NSW Southern Highlands and ACT Catherine Bell is continuing her work as a consumer representative for the Safer Baby Bundle rollout ACT and the 'Every Week Counts' initiative for SNSWLHD. The SNSWLHD are engaged with a team monitoring outcomes and are very conscious of being woman-centred. The ACT is less so, and it is very much a rollout focused on the five steps, will all meetings happening online. Catherine also supported and encouraged local input into the NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry. The mothers willing to put in a submission were very conscious of having to revive or put to words that which they had buried. Catherine also headed to Perth for the 'Strength to Progress' Conference last month, taking our Best Birth Finder postcards and sparking interest in WA representation and membership of MCA. |
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And some creative expression! |
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Catherine Bell has also written a poem 'Sold' to help her process her thoughts from her recent parliamentary experiences. We have copied the first lines here, but do go onto her website to read the whole thing and her reflections as well (that include even references to Barbie!) Sold Are we doing what we’re told Or buying what we’re sold? Are we all agentic and resigned To accept that we’re confined? Why do we trust our overlords Who disregard the needs of hoards? Why do we believe the lie that we are free When we still have liability? Why to this will do we bend buying into the hype and trend? Who pulls upon the puppet strings Calling lines from the wings? ...... Continued here |
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