NSW Health Minister Ryan Park says he will never forget hearing testimony from the state birth trauma inquiry when a Dapto woman described being forced to watch her five-hour-old stillborn baby be placed in a styrofoam box by police at Wollongong Hospital before having to spend the night in the maternity ward surrounded by newborns crying.
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"I'll never forget that story," he said of the heart-wrenching statement Naomi Bowden made about her 2009 birth at a pubic hearing in Wollongong.
"You have to be moved."
He said that story, and the avalanche of others which have come out in the 4200 submissions made to the inquiry, were signs that things needed to change - both locally and across the state.
"We didn't find [Ms Bowden] another area in the hospital to grieve and be treated," he said.
"The culture and the care [in hospitals] is so important because if we don't get that right, it doesn't matter that she's in a bed in a hospital, that's not the right place for that person."
Mr Park also said he admired the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District for apologising to women whose maternity care did not meet their expectations and said it was clear big changes needed to keep being made.
"Quite clearly, from the comments made by the chief executive yesterday, it has to change," he said.
"Staffing has to change, training has to change, the culture has to change, the availability of the midwifery group practice... [and] that continuity of care to enable a woman to have consistency in the relationship with that midwife, that's critical."
"It highlights the fact that healthcare is more than just equipment and buildings, it is the way in which we treat people in pretty vulnerable times can make an impact on their life for a long time."
To start trying to improve things, Mr Park has announced he will set up a new panel of experts - made up of "consumers" and midwifery and obstetric leads from each local health district - to implement NSW's latest strategic plan on birth.
Published in March, the plan - Connecting, Listening and Responding - A Blueprint for Action - Maternity Care in NSW - has a 10 part vision to put social and cultural respect and women's views at the centre of pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care.
"The stories coming out of the parliamentary inquiry into Birth Trauma are difficult to hear but it's important we learn from the lived experience of these women and understand how we can do better," Mr Park said.
"This new expert advisory group is the next step in the implementation of our strategic plan Blueprint for Action - Maternity Care in NSW and will ensure women are put at the centre of their own care."
According to the plan, the women consulted wanted consistent information, a way to routinely capture feedback from women and better support women from clinicians to make informed decisions about their maternity care.
"A woman's birthing experience is one that stays with them for life, and I am committed to ensuring that all women no matter where they live, have maternity services which deliver safe, high-quality care and that understand the significance of their birthing experience," Mr Park said.
However, he stressed the advisory group was not the government's response to the birth trauma inquiry, and acknowledged that the way NSW Health approaches maternity care may need to change again in response to the inquiry.
"Absolutely there will be [a response]," he said.
"There will be a point in time when the inquiry hands down recommendations that the government has to formally response, but I suppose what I'm going to do, which is not always the case, is this is such a significant issue that has gained such a significant response that it deserves to have an ongoing response as it works through."
Mr Park said the group would be set up in the coming weeks, with the first meeting held in the next few months to advise NSW Health on the implementation of the Blueprint.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
