Since 2016, we have advocated for empowered births

Protecting a woman’s right to choose: Homebirth Private Indemnity Insurance Campaign

A MASSIVE win!

On November 1st, we saw one of the biggest wins for birth choice—one we could barely have imagined just months ago!

This major milestone simply wouldn’t have been possible without the fierce dedication and advocacy of mothers, midwives, and supporters of homebirth and birth choices.

Our impact is huge. The government scrapped restrictive “low-risk” definitions for homebirth midwives. Now, as long as midwives follow NMBA’s Safety and Quality Guidelines, they will be insured for intrapartum homebirth services—a massive step toward safer, more accessible birthing options.

How did we get here? We joined a coalition of organisations, led by Homebirth Australia where 6,000 women filled out surveys, more than 1200 sent emails to their local member of parliament and dozens met with their local Federal MPs.

Better Births Illawarra, alongside thousands of women and organisations, helped drive this change. Our collective voices sent surveys, emails, and met with MPs—and the government listened. This is people power in action, but our work isn’t over. We’ll keep fighting to protect birth choices and ensure real, lasting change for families and providers.

NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry

Since March 2023, Better Births Illawarra (BBI) has led a transformative campaign during the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma. Our efforts contributed to a record-breaking 4,200 submissions, the highest in NSW Inquiry history. We provided testimony at public hearings and supported women in sharing their experiences in Wollongong and Sydney. Our advocacy ensured representation in over 50 media pieces, amplifying the voices of women and families across NSW.

On August 28th, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park publicly apologized to women harmed by the maternity care system, acknowledging the distressing and avoidable nature of many birth traumas.

The government supported 42 of the 43 recommendations from the final Birth Trauma Report, reflecting the impact of our collective advocacy.

BBI's President, Sharon Settecasse, emphasized the urgency of immediate action, stating, "These mothers and their babies deserve immediate action." The Guardian. Our work underscores the power of community, especially women driving change from the ground up and strategic political influencing

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Huge Win!!! MIDWIFERY GROUP PRACTICE expanded in the Illawarra Shoalhaven

After eight years of tireless advocacy and persistence Better Births Illawarra have achieved a massive win and finally expanded the Midwifery Group Practice in Wollongong and Shoalhaven hospitals! The NSW Health Minister made the announcement on.

The Wollongong MGP expansion means more than 300 women and birthing parents will have access to this model of care - almost doubling the current number. The Shoalhaven will have an MGP for the first time with four midwives.

Better Births Illawarra formed because we saw the vast difference in birth experience and outcomes for mothers and babies between women in the fragmented hospital care and women and birthing parents being cared for by a known midwife through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. We formed as a group to increase access to what is known as Midwifery Group Practice.

$2.2 million wollongong birth suite upgrade.

In 2018, our successful political lobbying resulted in a refurbishment of Wollongong hospital suites. The $2.2 million dollar upgrade was the start. We participated as consumer representatives in the co-design of the suites, connecting researchers with the construction manager The result is a state-of the-art environment including birthing baths, dangle, warm colour palette, hidden medical equipment, dimmable lights, double-headed showers, two large mural photos in two birth suites amongst other improvement.

NSW Maternity Services Alliance

BBI has been a founding member of the Maternity Services Alliance (MSA), a group of community members (known as consumers), midwives, and academics. We are a unique group of organisations within Australia that come together to advocate for positive change within national maternity services.

We made a joint submission to the Birth Trauma Inquiry and a key priority in our work has been to raise awareness amongst the public on the benefits of midwifery-led care. e We collaborated to design an educational postcard for distribution in the community and used it as a basis to lobby at state and federal level around the importance of investing in midwives which has know to improve the experience and outcomes of birth for the mother and baby.

The MSA consists of the Australian College of Midwives, Country Women’s Association of NSW, Waminda South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, Better Births Illawarra, Maternity Choices Australia and leading midwifery academics in NSW.

Reduced mother baby separation after Caesarian section

After parents sharing stories of being separated from their baby after birthing via Caesarean section, BBI wanted to understand how widespread this issue was. What we discovered was separating a mother from their baby straight after birth was routine.

Our survey found that 89 per cent of 200 women who underwent caesareans at Wollongong Hospital said they had been separated from their newborns during recovery – mostly without explanation.

Many said they had been separated for longer than two hours and 90 per cent said they were anxious and stressed as a result. One in five reported being diagnosed with postnatal depression.

After facilitating a community meeting with hospital executives, the distress prompted change at Wollongong hospital.

Health experts recommend skin-to-skin contact due to its benefits for bonding and breastfeeding. The benefits of the “golden hour” is crucial for the establishment of breastfeeding, regulating heartbeat and co-regulation.

Our community research aprompted the hospital to review its ‘skin-to-skin’ policy and advertise for a caesarean section midwife.

BIRTH PROPS for active birth, WOLLONGONG HOSPITAL

When we first started BBI we were made aware that Wollongong Hospital did not offer any birth props for women. Affordable items such as birth balls, mats, stools and beanbags have been proven to be effective in assisting with normal physiological birth. After a meeting between the hospital executive and consumers, it was identified that the provision of these birth props would be a major improvement to the birth suite. 

After 18 months of ongoing pressure the health service purchased the props and implemented a staff training programme, to ensure these props are now offered and used correctly with labouring women.

A VOICE FOR OUR COMMUNITY

We represent the community voice in a number of forums, acting as consumer representatives on the Project 2020 initiative for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD), and instigated the Wollongong Hospital birth unit redesign project working group. we have monthly update meeting with senior executives of the Wollongong Hospital.

To ensure community needs are met, we contribute to workshops which community members participate in, such as a workshop for bereaved parents and forums for local parents to contribute to plans for the birth unit redesign. 

We also established a consumer reference group, which was appointed by the hospital to consult with the maternity change group, meeting monthly to allow community members to feed directly into plans for changes to the maternity services at Wollongong Hospital. We are currently coordinating a Maternity Steering Group since the Inquiry into Birth Trauma.