Mother loses child in stillbirth and is traumatized by hospital treatment: NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry

For Wollongong woman Naomi Bowden, a framed 14-year-old picture of baby Bella is one of the few photos she has of her stillborn daughter.

The photo, taken by a friend at a funeral home in 2009, shows the newborn sleeping on a sheepskin rug and cuddling a stuffed animal. Her little head is covered by a knitted hat.

Just days earlier, Ms Bowden had the unimaginable task of identifying her stillborn baby just minutes before watching police put Bella in a cold foam box.

“We need to go in and spend an hour or two with her,” she said.

“A friend of my husband came over, brought a small sheep rug and took beautiful photos.

For Wollongong woman Naomi Bowden, a framed 14-year-old picture of baby Bella is one of the few photos she has of her stillborn daughter

“I have these photos hanging everywhere. “It makes people uncomfortable, but they don’t have to live with it all the time.”

Rubbing salt into a wound that would remain sore for more than a decade, Ms Bowden remained in Wollongong Hospital’s maternity ward, listening to the sounds of other women giving birth and babies crying, until she was discharged the next morning.

The emotional scar tissue was further inflamed by the treatment she received from hospital staff from birth until her recovery.

“I just think it’s so unfair because if so many things were handled differently, I would have been a different person,” she said.

That includes an incident at her six-week follow-up where doctors who hadn’t read her notes asked her where her baby was.

Prior to further consultation with hospital staff, Ms Bowden was also emailed studies from the senior midwifery consultant linking the use of antidepressants – which Ms Bowden had been cleared to use – with negative effects on unborn babies.

“I was a grieving parent trying to put the pieces back together. ‘Why (were these unsupportive documents sent to me) when they hadn’t even read them?’ She said.

On Thursday Ms Bowden was one of six women to give evidence at a landmark NSW inquiry into birth trauma.

Speaking at the Sage Hotel in Wollongong, Ms Bowden held back tears and repeated the words “I’m sorry” as she read out her statement.

The parliamentary inquiry received a record number of more than 4,000 submissions, most from women who shared stories of feeling ignored, unheard, traumatized and patronized by their birth experience.

Speaking at the Sage Hotel in Wollongong, Ms Bowden held back tears and repeated the words “I’m sorry” as she read out her statement

Co-founder of local advocacy group Better Births Illawarra, Sharon Settcase, said it was time for action.

Speaking to the committee, she called for a priority review of risk classifications for the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) scheme, which allows mothers to receive ongoing care from a midwife throughout their pregnancy.

While high-risk patients may not qualify for the program, she argued that midwives are trained to care for high-risk women or refer them to other care.

“We don’t want to be called back into steering committees to talk about the same thing,” she said Thursday.

“There is so much trauma.” “We get so many messages from women just by uploading a photo of a beautiful birth through the MGP.”

The community advocacy group also proposed changes to ensure women are properly informed about the risks and benefits of instrumental deliveries, which may involve the use of forceps or a vacuum.

“Some birth trauma comes from not knowing what it is,” Ms Settcase added.

As the long-running investigation is set to continue over the next few months, the investigation has thrown the state’s health care system into turmoil.

In her opening statement, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District manager Margot Mains made an emotional apology to former patients, including many of the women who testified earlier that day.

“On behalf of the local health district, I sincerely apologize to any woman whose care did not meet their expectations,” she said.

As the long-running investigation is set to continue over the next few months, the investigation has thrown the state’s health care system into turmoil

“I recognize that we must do everything we can to ensure that women in our hospitals do not suffer birth trauma.”

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park also said he was committed to “ensuring women across NSW have access to respectful, evidence-based maternity care”.

“The stories and experiences we hear through this inquiry are harrowing and difficult, but we must listen and learn,” he said.

“It is important that we know more about the causes and factors that contribute to birth trauma and its impact on women and their families.”

Asked by the inquiry what recommendations she would like to see made to the government and the health system, Ms Bowden called for more support, respect and compassion for families experiencing a stillbirth.

“It’s left to us to pick up the pieces and make it as good as we can in some ways, but.”

then there are these layers of trauma,” she said.

“I didn’t know what to expect from grief and trauma, but I can tell you that it never leaves your body.”