Arabic version: سميث تسعى إلى تحقيق وطني بشأن الرعاية الصحية بعد الولادة

According to ABC News, Labor senator Marielle Smith is seeking Senate support to establish a select committee examining postpartum healthcare in Australia after sharing her own experience of breastfeeding difficulties and postnatal anxiety.

Smith said the weeks after the birth of her son Benjamin were physically painful and mentally isolating. She described recurring mastitis, injury and latching problems while trying to breastfeed, and said the experience led to a diagnosis of postnatal anxiety. She later received help from a lactation consultant and was able to breastfeed him.

The South Australian senator said access to support should not depend on where parents live, what they can afford, or luck. She said her support cost almost $1,000 and that living in Adelaide had helped her access care, circumstances she said were not available to every parent.

The proposed committee is expected to be put to a Senate vote on Tuesday. If established, it would operate for 12 months, travel around Australia and hear evidence from women and families in cities and regional areas. Its examination would include physical and mental health after birth, breastfeeding and infant-feeding support, physiotherapy and other allied health services.

Smith said the inquiry could develop recommendations for Commonwealth, state and territory health services. ABC News reported that a Birth Trauma Australia report released in June put the economic impact of birth injuries and ongoing conditions at $17.5 billion in 2023-24, while finding that a third of women described their birth as physically or mentally traumatic.