Senate inquiry floods with women's healthcare complaints

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 10 Oct, 22:24 · Archive

A Senate select committee into women's health has received hundreds of submissions describing medical misogyny and inadequate postpartum care.

Australia's Senate select committee on women's health, established in August via a motion by South Australian senator Marielle Smith, has received hundreds of submissions describing medical misogyny, dismissed pain and inadequate postpartum care. Many submissions come from mothers and healthcare providers detailing how the system fails women recovering from birth.

Women report feeling abandoned after giving birth. One respondent said: 'As soon as my baby was born, it felt like I was no longer viewed as needing care. I felt unimportant.' Another stated: 'I wish my pregnancy and postpartum struggles were not seemingly invisible to healthcare professionals.' Others describe severe pain being dismissed or misdiagnosed; one woman took over six years to receive an endometriosis diagnosis despite persistent severe symptoms.

The inquiry follows similar investigations into birth trauma in New South Wales in 2023 and women's pain in Victoria in 2024. The Adelaide Mums and Babies Clinic, which brings together GPs, midwives, mental health professionals, social workers and a dietician under one roof, is the only such facility in South Australia. Co-founder Rhiannon Smith established it eight years ago after realising how little postpartum support existed and hopes the committee acts on mothers' concerns.

How it is being reported

• 'I felt unimportant': women beg inquiry for real changeAn overdue national inquiry into women's health has been flooded with submissions on trauma, pain, medical misogyny and lack of care following childbirth.Perth Now · 10 Oct, 22:02
• 'I felt unimportant': women beg inquiry for real changeAn overdue national inquiry into women's health has been flooded with submissions on trauma, pain, medical misogyny and lack of care following childbirth.The West Australian · 10 Oct, 22:02

In this story: Senate select committee on women's health · Marielle Smith · Adelaide Mums and Babies Clinic · Rhiannon Smith · Konstandina Karavias · Australia · South Australia

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