NSW birth trauma inquiry hears maternity horror stories from Western NSW

Women traumatised by their birth experiences across the Western NSW Local Health District have lodged their stories with the state's birth trauma inquiry, which was sparked by a wholesale complaint against one of the largest hospitals in regional NSW.

The inquiry was established by the state government in June after the Maternity Consumer Network filed a complaint with the Health Care Complaints Commission on behalf of dozens of women alleging poor maternity care at Wagga Base Hospital.

The inquiry has since received over 4000 submissions from the public, from right across regional NSW.

Most of those submissions are anonymous and don't detail the location of the traumatic experience suffered during, or after, birth.

However, a number are related to the Western NSWLHD and name the hospitals.

One mother who gave birth at the Orange Hospital says she often left her appointments with senior staff in tears after being told not to put on any more weight during her pregnancy. She was at 34 weeks gestation at the time.

She said vaginal exams took place without consent, while she felt forced into an induction: "I felt defeated and that I had no other choice," she told the inquiry.

"I still lay in bed awake asking myself if I could've done something different or said something sooner to prevent what happened."

She said the traumatic birth experience was made all the more horrific in the aftermath, via a debrief with staff.

"The next morning ... (I was) blamed for the experience. It was full of 'you should've had the epidural' ... 'we knew you were going for a C-section eventually' ... 'your baby was just to high up and posterior it was never going to happen vaginally' ... 'mistakes happen'. (Staff) didn't look at me, never apologised for what happened and I was then told 'there is no reason you can't attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) next time, as long as the baby isn't as big'," she said in her submission.

"There was a lady admitted beside me who said she had nothing but rough dealings with also."

One mother who gave birth in Dubbo says she was sent home while she was 4 centimetres dilated and told to return when she "could no longer stand the pain" at home.

She returned to the hospital at 1am, was forced to wait outside before entering the hospital through the ambulance entry while fully dilated.

She gave birth quickly, but then staff attempted to manually remove her placenta.

"I was in so much pain and asked her three times to stop before I could feel myself passing out," she told the inquiry.

The removal resulted in tearing, and the subsequent stitching took place before any form of anaesthetic had a chance to kick in. She felt everything.

Once it was all over, she was then left to sit in "my soiled sheets" until 8am that same morning, the inquiry heard.

"Unfortunately this experience made my husband and I think we probably don't want any more children as we don't want to have to go through anything like this again," she said.

A number of other submissions said they feel compelled to speak up to help advocate for more support for mothers.

One mother, from Parkes, who gave birth nine years ago, said she hid her suffering from everyone bar her husband because of the "shame" she felt.

She suffered a huge Post-Partum Haemorrhage and "thought I was going to die". She says her experience left her with PTSD and post-natal depression/anxiety. She told the inquiry she was made to feel like a failure.

That feeling of failure was a common belief shared throughout most submissions.

One mother said she "feared for my life and my body" and "I have had a lot of apprehension about having any more children as I have a lack of trust in medical professionals but also in myself".

Australasian Birth Trauma Association chief executive Amy Dawes told the inquiry women regularly felt dismissed by healthcare providers when they reported ongoing pain after birth.

"That further exacerbated their mental health challenges because they're navigating looking after young babies ... or they're suffering from incontinence," Ms Dawes said.

On the first day of the inquiry, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the number of submissions showed birth trauma was an area of concern for many women.

The government was taking the issue very seriously, he told reporters.

"We need to make sure that every time a woman goes in to have a child in one of our hospitals and our health facilities, that we're able to give the very best possible experience and outcome for them."

The birth trauma inquiry, which is chaired by Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst, will hold its first regional hearing on September 7 at Wollongong before heading to Wagga on September 8.

At this stage, no hearings are scheduled for the Western NSWLHD.

However, ACM has been told committee is looking to hold further regional hearings later in 2023 and early 2024.

The publicly-available submissions published so far on the inquiry's website are just a drop in the ocean of "unprecedented" feedback, with more than 1500 responses received with almost a week before the feedback period closes.

"The sheer number of submissions received so far highlights the desperate need for this inquiry," Ms Hurst told ACM.

"While the submissions are not all online at this stage that is because a careful and thoughtful process needs to take place to ensure confidentiality and to support each person coming forward to give evidence. We appreciate everyone's patience as this process takes place.

"We expect a significant number of additional submissions to come through before the new deadline."

- with Australian Associated Press and Daisy Huntly

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Sign-up to our latest newsletter