This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2024 with the theme of Informed Consent (permission). The week aims to raise awareness, drive policy change, and prevent trauma.
Following the recent publication of the first global Perinatal Trauma Prevention Guidelines, AAPi's Executive Director Tegan Carrison is featured in this Byron Coast Times article calling for increased Medicare-rebated sessions for perinatal women.
“For anyone with serious/complex problems, research shows that 40 sessions are considered the optimal level of treatment.
“Clients are being forced to stretch out their sessions for issues such as anxiety, PTS related to childbirth, adjustment to parenthood, changes in partner relationships, difficulty bonding, and suicidal ideation. These
issues require ongoing care.”
Psychologist and AAPi member Lucy Frankham is also quoted in the article, noting that the parliamentary inquiry attracted more than 4,000 submissions, however “Despite this recent attention, many people remain unaware of the profound and lasting impacts that birth trauma can have on women and their families, and this extends to healthcare providers, policymakers, and support networks”.
Read the full article above or on page 8 here.