In May, we celebrate mothers.
In September, we celebrate fathers.
On any given day of the year, we celebrate the arrival of more than eight hundred little ones across the Outback.
Needless to say, we do an awful lot of celebrating, and rightfully so.
Parenthood is worth the celebration, but unfortunately what doesn’t always get our attention as fellow parents, family members, peers or community members is the trauma that many parents endure before, during or after giving birth. That’s something that the Australian Birth Trauma Association hopes to change through its annual campaign held during the month of July that aims to raise awareness of the more than 110,000 families impacted by birth-related trauma across the continent each year. That’s equal to about one in three women and gender-diverse people who give birth during any given year.
Birth-related trauma encompasses a broad and subjective spectrum of experiences. It includes both the physical trauma that comes with pregnancy, labour and post-natal recovery, and the psychological trauma that comes with the uncertainty and fear surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing. Not feeling informed, respected, or listened to by others, especially care providers. Feeling out of control or forced into decisions about care and feeling alone and unsupported.
No matter what the traumatic experience entails, the feelings are real, valid, and worthy of others attention and support. But unfortunately, birth related trauma has been historically overlooked both by the medical industry and society at large. In fact, emerging findings from an ongoing inquiry into birth trauma launched by the NSW Parliament suggests that the number of birthing parents who experience trauma is much higher than reported, with up to 8 in 10 parents experiencing at least one symptom of postpartum PTSD. According to researchers at the ABTA, lack of awareness among the general population regarding birth related trauma results in far too many parents suffering in silence or even in ignorance as to what is going on inside their own minds and bodies.
With suicide now a leading cause of maternal mortality, it is imperative that community members, including employers, move swiftly to address such ignorance and improve health outcomes and the overall quality of life of parents across the nation. And one of the most effective ways for employers to do this is by investing in a holistic well-being solutions provider who can help. By partnering with a holistic solutions provider like WPO, employers can aspire to provide parental staff with the full spectrum of support essential to meeting their diverse needs and prevent postpartum disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. With the help of expert consultants with years of industry experience, employers can implement effective employee listening and tracking strategies to monitor for signs of risk, symptoms and concerns related to postpartum health and to discern what specific solutions are desired or would be best for their working parents. Through their access to internationally accredited trainers and specialists, employers can teach managers as well as all staff about the risk factors and warning signs of birth related trauma, train them on how to promptly and effectively intervene and signpost effective peers to the right support and educate them about the protective factors associated with preventing PTSD or other postpartum health issues in themselves. Likewise, by connecting employees to wellness coaching and in-the-moment counselling support, employers can empower parents to talk through and learn more about their trauma, allowing for better management of symptoms. And with solutions like WPO’s New Parent Return to Work program, parents, their managers, and their peers can collaborate alongside a team of consultants on effective exit and re-entry strategies suited to everyone’s needs.
We can inherently address and even mitigate the harms of birth related trauma not only through its promotion of counselling and coaching services, but by its demonstration of the supportive network that parents have access to at work. The more we talk about pregnancy and postpartum health, the more we start to see that birth related trauma isn’t all that uncommon. Parents don’t deserve to suffer alone. Together, we can create a positive, supportive environment in which parents are given the tools, care, information and support they need to heal, to move forward, and to be the best parents, the best workers, and the best version of themselves that they can be.
