A birth trauma support initiative will help fill a gap in care by connecting people from across Geelong.
The state’s first dedicated peer-to-peer birth trauma support program will be piloted in Geelong and Warrnambool next month to give parents direct access to lived-experience guidance and recovery tools.
Women’s Health and Wellbeing Barwon South West chief executive Jodie Hill said the program would help connect people affected by physical and psychological birth trauma.
“We’re so pleased to partner with local practitioners and Birth Trauma Australia to pilot this vital program in the Barwon South West, where it’s so urgently needed,” she said.
“This vital peer-to-peer program will provide a valuable space for them to connect with others and feel less isolated as well as to understand their trauma and get the support they need to move forward.”
Birth Trauma program champion and general practitioner Dr Alex Umbers said the evidence-based program will be delivered over six weeks by facilitators with professional and personal experience of birth trauma.
“Birth related trauma can be very isolating, even more so in rural and regional areas where services don’t meet the demands of the community,” she said.
“From personal experience, and as a GP seeing many parents after traumatic births, there’s often a lack of recognition and options for a recovery pathway.
“The peer-to-peer support is a wonderful option for birthing parents to be supported, validated, develop connections and build hope for recovery, it’s a program I wished I had access to myself.”
Birth Trauma Australia research found that up to one in three Australian parents reported their birthing experience as traumatic.
Chief executive and co-founder Amy Dawes said the program was about “community validation, and finding a way forward”.
“By sharing lived experiences in a safe, supported environment, participants can begin to make sense of what’s happened to them and importantly, realise they’re not alone,” she said.
“Our Birth Trauma Support Group is a program built by parents, for parents. It recognises the deep need for trauma-informed, peer-led support in the aftermath of a traumatic birth.”
