NSW birth trauma inquiry told of 'lack of compassion' for refugee and migrant women's pregnancies

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A woman has told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into the prevalence of birth trauma that she felt she was subjected to "racial discrimination" by hospital staff during her first birth. Highlights More than 4,000 submissions made to parliamentary inquiry More than 4,000 submissions were made to the parliamentary inquiry. The inquiry heard from women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds The inquest heard from women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds The rate of stillbirth in women in CALD communities was twice the national rate, the inquest was told Iranian refugee Elahe Yazdani arrived Australia in 2020 and gave birth to her son at a hospital NSW the same year. She told inquest was "forced" to undergo the induction when was 41 weeks pregnant, although did not fully understand why had procedure. I told them if it's necessary please give me a reason for it," she said. “They couldn't give me a valid reason. "I agreed to do the induction by force and pressure." Ms Yazdani told the hearing she had an emergency caesarean section and that she experienced severe pain when the epidural leaked and midwives "ignored" it for several hours. Nobody cared," she said. "When the midwife came , I asked her, 'Why did you ignore me? Because English isn't my first language? Because I'm a refugee?' I asked. Ms Yazdani said she has been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks since birth. She called for non-British mothers to be provided with medical interpreters while in the delivery room and for hospital staff to receive anti-racism training. 'Lack of compassion' regarding birth trauma The inquiry, launched in June this year and chaired by Emma Hurst of the Animal Justice Party, examines the prevalence, causes and solutions to rates of birth trauma. It received a record number of 4,000 applications from the public. On Monday, a number of women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds heard about their experiences in the delivery room. Dulce Muñoz told the inquiry that during her birth at a Sydney hospital in 2010, she felt "dismissed" by hospital staff because she was a "person of colour" with an "accent". "After my C-section, there was a lack of education, communication, and compassion about birth trauma," she said. “My story is very similar to the tens of thousands of stories I have heard while working with refugees and asylum seekers giving birth in Australia.” She said she suffered from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder after an emergency C-section. The need for cultural education in hospitals Registered Midwife and PhD candidate Sharon Coulton Stoliar told the inquiry it was crucial to consider the importance of culturally safe birth care to reduce preventable causes of birth trauma. “It would not be difficult to implement basic cultural education and training for maternity care providers,” he said. “It is clear that implicit bias and systemic racism