Traumatic Birth - Aotearoa New Zealand

Have you given birth in Aotearoa New Zealand in the last five years and had a traumatic experience? We are looking for participants in a PhD research study looking at how people who have given birth here experienced harm as a result of the interactions with their healthcare providers. If you are interested in participating, please reach out to our lead researcher, Nikki Macfarlane, a PhD student at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University Wellington, for more information: [email protected]

Have you experienced a traumatic birth in Aotearoa New Zealand and looking for support? Birth Trauma Aotearoa advocates for safe, respectful, gentle birth and supports those who have had traumatic experiences during their birth.

Birth Trauma Aotearoa Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to Birth Trauma Aotearoa Birth Trauma Aotearoa champions the prevention of birth trauma along with improvements in support following birth trauma.Birth Trauma Aotearoa is a Registered Charitable Trust working in the birth trauma space across Aotearoa New Zealand. We work....

In the recently published NSW Senate Enquiry into Birth Trauma, obstetricians said that the reason why those giving birth experience trauma is because they have unrealistic expectations about birth, are unprepared for things going wrong, and source their information about birth from the internet instead of medical professionals. They failed to acknowledge that most people who find their births traumatic say it is because of the interventions they were exposed to (often unnecessary or routine), the way they were treated, being exposed to coercion, bullying and threats, and being denied informed consent and informed refusal. This gaslighting of birthing families is not ok. Informed consent is at the heart of our healthcare system. It has been recognised as an essential element of reproductive healthcare since the 1970s with the Cartwright Enquiry.

Image Credit: Stocksy.com (5902188 Diane Durongpisitkul)

The maternity care system in Aotearoa New Zealand has been seen as the gold standard globally over the last 20 years - those giving birth being able to choose their care provider (with more than 80% choosing a midwife as their lead maternity caregiver), high homebirth and primary birthing centre rates, continuity of care, low rates of intervention, and excellent outcomes. But as birth place has progressively moved to hospitals and obstetric care, the rates of intervention have escalated (e.g., high rates of inductions and caesareans) without any positive effect on maternal or infant outcomes. One third of people giving birth are now having caesareans. More than a quarter are "needing" to have their labour induced. There is a shortage of midwives offering community care, and higher numbers of pregnant people are being "risked out" of giving birth at home or in a primary birthing unit. Have you experienced a traumatic birth in Aotearoa New Zealand in the last five years and would like to be part of a PhD research study to understand the impact of birth trauma that results from interactions with healthcare providers? We would love to hear from you. Our research team can be reached at [email protected]

Image Credit: stocksy.com (4614250 Pietro Karras)

One in three people who give birth describe it as a traumatic experience. While there are many reasons for a birth being traumatic, the majority of people say that it was the interactions between them and their healthcare providers, or the way they were treated during their birth, that impacts on their trauma. How a person is treated during their birth has a significant effect on their mental health, whether they trust their healthcare providers, and how they embark on their journey into parenthood. We need to do better.

Image Credit: stocksy.com (2639829 Irina Polonina)