INFORMED CONSENT

Birth trauma awareness week 2024

July 15 - 21

Birth Trauma Awareness Week (BTAW) is held in July each year. The theme for 2024 is Informed Consent.

What is Birth Trauma Awareness Week?

Birth Trauma Awareness Week (BTAW) is held in July each year. The theme for 2024 is Informed Consent.

The debate around informed consent (permission) in prenatal and birthing care is ongoing among maternity experts, families, and the government, especially after the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry.

Why is this debate crucial?

Because informed consent is essential for respectful maternity care. Everyone deserves to know their choices, risks, and alternatives during childbirth. Everyone has the right to make the decisions that are right for them. Yet, in healthcare, this principle is often ignored or misunderstood, potentially causing trauma for birthing individuals and families.

In light of the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma, the timing of this year’s theme couldn’t be more important. By raising awareness about informed consent, we aim to spark meaningful conversations, drive policy change, and, ultimately, prevent unnecessary birth trauma.

Join us as we advocate for a future where every birth is supported by informed, respectful, and compassionate care. Together, let’s make informed consent not just a concept but a reality for all. Stay tuned for a week filled with insightful discussions, educational resources, and opportunities to make a difference.

Together, we can create a world where every birthing individual feels empowered, respected.

YOUR GUIDE TO INFORMED CONSENT

NSW Government has published a guide documenting Consent Requirements for Pregnancy and Childbirth in NSW.

Together with ThinkNatal, we have prepared a consumer flyer to help families understand what informed consent in maternity care consists of. You can download it here: What Should Informed Consent Look Like?
We have also prepared a more general guide to your rights within maternity system: Know Your Rights.

You can find all our downloadable guides here.

WHAT’S HAPPENING DURING BIRTH TRAUMA AWARENESS WEEK

We’ve designed a series of social media tiles that capture powerful statements like “I gave consent,” “My consent was not given,” “I was seen,” and “I wasn’t seen.”

Here’s how you can participate:

Choose a Tile: Select one of our social media tiles that best represents your experience.
Share Your Story: Write about your experience or film a short video explaining what informed consent (or the lack of it) meant for you during childbirth.
Post and Tag: Share your post on social media using the hashtag #BirthTraumaAwareness #saferbirthsbetterhealing and tag us [@birthtrauma.org.au] so we can amplify your voice.

Your voice matters, and together, we can make a difference. Let’s use Birth Trauma Awareness Week to ensure that all women are respected, heard, and given the dignity they deserve during childbirth.

Some other ways you can choose to make a difference:

Read the ABTA’s Birth Trauma NSW Public Inquiry Submission
Find out more about the NSW Birth Trauma Public Inquiry
Join our Advocacy network
Follow us on Facebook.

Fundraise for ABTA

ABTA is a national not-for-profit that relies on the generosity of the community and its wonderful supporters. There are lots of ways to get involved and support our work.

Get involved

Join our Advocacy Network

Join our community and help us raise awareness, educate and inform, and improve support to reduce the prevalence and impacts of birth-related trauma.

Advocacy can help create change for safer births and better healing. It can be performed in many ways, from contacting local MPs, reposting ABTA messages on social media, or sharing information with friends and family.

Become an Advocate

Keep Informed

THANK YOU for your interest in fundraising for us. We have put together a few ideas to help you get the creative juices flowing so that your event will be a great success. If you come up with another idea that isn’t on this list, pleas-e let us know. We would love to share your enthusiasm and inspire others. Don’t forget! Please register your fundraising event with us via email so we can share Your success.

We also encourage you to use the hashtags #BTAW24 #saferbirthsbetterhealing so we can follow the fun and promote your efforts to inspire others.

Educate

1 in 10 women emerges from childbirth with PTSD. The devastating impacts of this type of trauma suffer from a lack of awareness and progress, meaning that families continue to suffer in silence.

We will spread evidence-based information so that we can better prevent, diagnose and treat this type of trauma.

Amplify

We aim to elevate the voices of parents and health professionals impacted by this silent epidemic by sharing their stories and real-life experiences and getting them in front of as many people as possible.

We want impacted individuals to know that they do not need to suffer in silence.

Advocate

Postpartum PTSD is probably more common than most people realise. For some, symptoms of trauma may be treated as depression or anxiety. For others, ongoing symptoms aren’t noticed until some months after the birth – they may have been managed until they become too difficult to cope with. Lots of people may not realise they have trauma until they are pregnant or trying to conceive a second time.

We advocate improving screening and access to treatment, including greater access to affordable treatment options and, ultimately, better outcomes for all those affected.

We can't change the future for birthing families without your support.

As a volunteer-led organisation, we rely on donations so we can continue working towards our vision for physically and psychologically safer births and better postnatal care.

Join us in our proud collaboration with Ethical Jobs, as we continue fundraising during Birth Trauma Awareness Week. Together, we’re igniting change, raising vital funds, and spreading crucial awareness for those impacted.

Show support on social media

Spread the word on social media by sharing these images.
Don’t forget to tag @birthtrauma.org.au and use #BTAW2023 in your social posts.