An overhaul of how health staff deal with mothers' consent and better access to continuous care teams throughout pregnancy have been promised after a landmark inquiry into birth trauma.
The NSW health minister on Thursday apologised to any woman who had not received the required high standard of care as the state government accepted all recommendations from a report handed down in May.
Advocates welcomed the move but demanded the government conduct genuine consultation when rolling out five high-priority initiatives to address the often-confronting failings highlighted during the parliamentary inquiry.
They include increasing access to maternity continuity-of-care models, supporting women who have pregnancy complications and improving consent processes in birth care within the next year.
The inquiry received submissions from 4000 people including patients, doctors, midwives and experts, with witnesses revealing life-threatening experiences and birth injuries along with non-consensual and insensitive treatment from staff.
NSW Health had to quantify its support of the women who participated in the inquiry, Better Births Illawarra president Sharon Settecasse said.
One in three women faced "unacceptable and distressing" birth experiences, she said.
“Genuine community consultation and transparency on how these five initiatives should be rolled out is vital,” Ms Settecasse said.
“When redesigning and improving services, local health districts across NSW need to listen to local communities, work with local mums and not work from a top-down approach.”
Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, who chaired the inquiry, agreed the government’s real test was how it implemented the reforms.
“Thousands of women vulnerably shared their stories … they need to be assured that major reform and appropriate funding will be dedicated,” she said.
“It starts with ensuring continuity of midwifery-led care is available to every birthing parent in NSW, providing health care workers with trauma-informed training and informed consent education and supporting the midwifery workforce.”
The inquiry was told continuity of care, in which a patient sees the same medical team throughout pregnancy and childbirth, reduced dramatically the risks of trauma.
Women who don’t have continuity of care are 24 per cent more likely to experience a pre-term birth and 16 per cent more likely to suffer pregnancy loss and neonatal death.
Health Minister Ryan Park said his government had listened to the women who shared their trauma and was ready to implement change.
“We apologise to women who have not received the high standard of maternity care they should have,” he said.
“We also recognise and are grateful for the courage of the thousands of women who shared their deeply personal and difficult experiences with the inquiry … we have heard what matters most to women, and their families, to meet their diverse needs.”
