Lived experience at the centre of trauma-informed maternity care at SMHS

Aimed at strengthening respectful, trauma-informed maternity care across South Metropolitan Health Service (SMHS), a new Birth Trauma Advisory Committee has been established.

Following on from the Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group (FSFHG) Making the Changes working group, the SMHS Birth Trauma Advisory Committee aims to support maternity models of care to enable every woman and their family to feel psychologically safe throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period.

The committee, which will formally commence this month, will bring together clinical expertise, system leadership and consumer voices to provide multidisciplinary, area-wide strategic advice to guide coordinated improvements in prevention, recognition, and response to birth trauma.

Consumer representative Amy O ’Meagher brings lived experience of birth trauma to the committee.

“I’m involved in this project because I believe women’s voices are central to creating meaningful change," Amy said.

SMHS Strategic Program Manager Christine Atkinson said the establishment of the committee was about listening to women and ensuring their experiences shape how maternity care is delivered.

“Birth trauma is not just about improving clinical outcomes – it’s about whether women feel safe, heard and supported during one of the most significant moments of their lives,” Christine said.

“This work is centred on listening to women, learning from their lived experience, and embedding psychological safety and compassion into how maternity care is delivered so that every woman and family feels safe and genuinely supported right throughout their perinatal period.”

This committee represents a key milestone in SMHS’s area-wide program of work to strengthen maternity care quality, safety, and experience, and aligns with the strategic priorities of patient-centred care, clinical excellence, and integrated, multidisciplinary service delivery.