Women's Electoral Lobby Australia congratulates the Senate on its Inquiry into the important issue of childbirth procedures in Australia and is pleased to have had the opportunity to present evidence at the Community Affairs Committee hearings today. This should be informed by world wide and domestic research, designed by a panel comprised of equal numbers of obstetricians, midwives and consumers and present birth as a normal part of a woman's life. The way women are treated in birth is a key indicator of women's status in that society, and in Australia women fare particularly badly. The caesarean section rate of birth in Australia is double and in some cases triple that recommended by the World Health Organisation. Australian hospitals and obstetricians routinely practice interventions long since found by authoritative research to be harmful for the overwhelming majority of women.
Birth is a profound event in a woman's life.
It involves intense physical and emotional challenges, and marks a key transition in her life, one which changes her perceptions of the world forever. It is an emotional and physical process and both aspects are intrinsic to it. Australian society must accept the overwhelming body of research showing that women birth best when educated, encouraged and given confidence that they can birth without intervention. A climate of fear of birth pervades Australian society.