Since 2016, we have advocated for empowered births

NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry

1 in 3 women and birthing parents experience birth trauma. Most of which can be avoided. Since March 2023, BBI has spearheaded a very successful campaign in the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma. A record of more than 4,200 submissions were made. We testified at a public hearing, supported women to speak in Wollongong and Sydney hearings. We featured in extensive media, appeared on podcasts and presented at Conferences. Read more…

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.

Whilst the MGP at Wollongong was established in 2004, it has been since 2016, we have continued to call for the expansion of the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) at Wollongong Hospital and across NSW. International studies have shown midwifery-led care from a known midwife is the gold standard in maternity care. We want more birthing mothers in the Illawarra to have access to this option when giving birth at Wollongong Public Hospital.

In 2016, we sought to understand what our community wanted via a survey that we shared via social media.

“Our midwife took the time to understand us and empower us to have the kind of natural birth we wanted, and we built on this understanding at every visit. The level of care and support was outstanding, and the continuity of dealing with the same midwife/small team helped to build trust and reduce stress.” - Respondent to Better Births Illawarra Survey 2016.

The awareness in our community about our need to advocate for the best maternity care was at a high in 2017 with local media reporting on our mission at several points of our campaign.

In 2018 we connected midwifery researchers Bec Coddington and Alison Cummings with Wollongong Hospital to help us understand what was need to embed a sustainable model. The result was a report with eight key recommendations, where only one of which has been implemented. We continue to wait for the others to be progressed.

In May 2023 at a Maternity Circle - a community forum for our community to share their experiences and express their needs, the Executive Director of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISHLD) announced they had put in a business case to the Ministry of Health NSW for $2.5 million. Part of this would be spent on expanding the MGP. We are waiting for an update on this progress.

After hundreds of hours of community consultation, meetings with hospital executives, surveys and applying research, we continue to campaign to local health authorities, state and federal government, to increase access to this model of care for local parents.

REFURBISHMENT OF BIRTH SUITE, WOLLONGONG HOSPITAL

Better Births Illawarra celebrated a huge success in July 2020. After extensive campaigning to the hospital, our team influenced the Wollongong Hospital to allocate state government funds of $2.2million to refurbish the birth suite. 

The refurbishment brought facilities at the hospital up to modern standards, including two new ample birth pools, new flooring, concealment of medical equipment, a nature-inspired colour scheme, and more functional floor plans, removing unnecessary obstacles and anxieties for birthing mothers, parents and their support people.

During construction, women birthed in the temporary birth suite, a less-than-ideal situation, we facilitated two community forums with the hospital, enabling pregnant people and their partners to demand a view of where they would be birthing, reducing anxiety and stress.

Everyone who gives birth at Wollongong Hospital now benefits from the birth suite refurbishment – 2,800 women every year. BBI represented the community throughout the process by attending over one hundred hours of design meetings, giving feedback and advocating for evidence-based care. This ensured the new design reflected community needs.

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.