1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: From the newsroom at News Still come today. 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 2: Hi there, I'm Andrew Bucklowe and thank you so much 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 2: for joining me today. Listen. I think it's fair to 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 2: say that giving birth to a baby is meant to 5 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 2: be one of the most joyous events in a woman's life, 6 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 2: but for many women in regional parts of Australia, it's 7 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 2: actually become a nightmare. You see, more and more maternity 8 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 2: wards around the country are closing, meaning expectant mums are 9 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 2: being forced to travel hours, sometimes while in labor, to 10 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 2: unfamiliar hospitals to deliver their babies and get this upon arrival, 11 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 2: some are even told sorry, there's no space for you inside. 12 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 2: Can you imagine that one woman has made it her 13 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 2: mission to try and fix this broken system. We're going 14 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 2: to meet her in just a moment. Well, joining me 15 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 2: now is Jen Lourie, a perinatal and pediatric mental health clinician. 16 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining. 17 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 3: Us, Jen, That's my absolute pleasure, Andrew, thank you for 18 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 3: having me. 19 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 2: You are doing amazing work at the moment. You're shining 20 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 2: a light on how tough things can be for pregnant 21 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 2: women in regional parts of Australia. Tell us about some 22 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 2: of the obstacles they face. 23 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 3: Well. At the moment, what we've come to find is 24 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 3: about one in two or fifty percent of rural maternity 25 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 3: hospitals have been closed since nineteen ninety so that's a 26 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 3: huge statistic. In relation to just physical open maternity wards, 27 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 3: women are having to travel further and further, and when 28 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 3: you birth outside of your post code, when you bounce back, 29 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 3: there's not a lot of services allocated to you because 30 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 3: of the way the funding structure works in New South Wales. 31 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 3: So in the context of that, we're seeing more trauma, 32 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 3: we're seeing more women having aumented births, We're seeing less options, 33 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 3: less continuity of care. 34 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 2: When you are going to have a baby, I assume 35 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 2: you just feel like you should be able to go 36 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 2: to a hospital and deliver the baby straight away. But 37 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 2: these women in regional parts of Australia, they have to 38 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 2: travel up to hours sometimes, is that right? 39 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 3: Yeah? And also some women don't actually know what's going 40 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 3: to happen. So I know a lot of women in 41 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 3: metro areas might know exactly the hospital they're going to 42 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 3: give that birth out. They might be part of an 43 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 3: MGP program, so they know what midwives or what midwives 44 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 3: group could be there. They might have had contact with 45 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 3: doctors if they're a bit more high risk, but they 46 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 3: know where they're going, they know the car park, they 47 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 3: know what the ward might look like. These women will 48 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 3: roll up to their local maternity hospitals and it might 49 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 3: say open, but it actually might also be on bypass 50 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 3: because of a lack of funding and resources. And let's 51 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 3: be clear, the midwives and the doctors that we have 52 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 3: that live in rural regional Australia are absolutely phenomenal. They 53 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:35,959 Speaker 3: are second to none. They are some of the best. 54 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 3: This isn't about them. This is about the funding and 55 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 3: allocation of resources that they have that impedes them to 56 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 3: be able to provide the care that they want to 57 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 3: be able to do. So in any given time, a 58 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 3: woman can roll up and then all of a sudden 59 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 3: it's like, oh, sorry, we're on bypass. You'll have to 60 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 3: go to such and such and then you can roll 61 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 3: up there and have to go on bypass again to 62 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 3: the next Because as we centralized services, more and more 63 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 3: pressure gets put on that centralized service. So for instance, 64 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 3: we've heard stories from women who have only made it 65 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 3: by nine minutes to a hospital and then given birth immediately. 66 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 3: It's hard to believe that the categorization of risks that 67 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 3: that woman was safer to travel in the back of 68 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 3: an ambulance doing one hundred and sixty kilometers along the 69 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 3: highway and deliver her baby within nine minutes of arriving 70 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 3: and a husband missing the birth than it was for 71 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 3: her to have a birth with the midwife she trusted 72 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 3: back in her local area. We're seeing that women often 73 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 3: are getting to the point where they google where they 74 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 3: can give birth. I've been to three different places and 75 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 3: nobody is offering me a safe place to deliver. What 76 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 3: can I do? Then there's further on flow effects, like 77 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 3: you might have thought that you were going to give 78 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 3: birth in Tamworth for instance, or Wogger and they have 79 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 3: great services from the perspective of anesthetics and options for 80 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 3: pain relief, and then all of a sudden they're on 81 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 3: bypassing bypassed to a service that might not have those options, 82 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 3: and so therefore you have limited pain and relief options. 83 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 3: A lot of rural mums are saying to me that 84 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 3: birth plan. Why bother do. 85 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 2: You host a podcast called her Herd that's HRD where 86 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 2: you interview some of these regional mums about the challenges 87 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 2: that you've just mentioned. What has it been like hearing 88 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 2: all of their stories. 89 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 3: So the podcast came about because regional, rural, remote people 90 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 3: are really resilient. And I use that word so with 91 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 3: such a cave it because I think we've ever used 92 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 3: that word and so there's lost some of its meaning, 93 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 3: particularly in the mental health field. But what I saw 94 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 3: time and time again was women were hacking their way 95 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 3: out of these situations. Rather than actually pointing and calling 96 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 3: out the issue with the funding and the resources, they 97 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 3: were just saying, oh, we'll use this and use that 98 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 3: and go there and do that, which is systematically what 99 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 3: rural people do. They're always the nice little tie up 100 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 3: or tidy up at the end of a real quite 101 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 3: traumatic story and saying don't worry about them. They've already 102 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:05,359 Speaker 3: come up with their own creative solution on how to 103 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 3: problem solve their way forward. And we know that a 104 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 3: lot of really great programs come out of rural areas 105 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 3: because the community gets together and they say, how can 106 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 3: we fix this? So the podcast, because I'm a social worker, 107 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 3: you know, it's had to be a strength based perspective. 108 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 3: So we wanted to share the stories of strength and 109 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 3: creativity out of the bush and provide those conversations for 110 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 3: women to interact with. We want to create conversations about 111 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 3: the creative solutions that rural regional mums come up with 112 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 3: in order to hack their way out of the systematic 113 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 3: issues with primary and allied healthcare because the system is 114 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 3: overrun and under resourced and underfunded. 115 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 2: We're going to hear a snippet now from one of 116 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 2: your interviews from the HERD podcast. Her name is Chloe. 117 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 2: She lives in Musclebrook in New South Wales. What can 118 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 2: you tell us about her? 119 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 3: Chloe is an amazing woman, mother of four, and you're 120 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 3: going to hear about her most recent birth with Harvey, 121 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 3: who came in the emergency room department. 122 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 4: Toilet far out. 123 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 2: All right, let's have a listen to chloe story. 124 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 4: So take me too. When you went into labor. 125 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it was just a normal Sunday. We've had 126 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: a really close friend's wedding the week before and I 127 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: was holding on like hell so I could go to that. 128 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: I started to go into labor and it just started 129 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: happening really quickly. I rang my mum to come and 130 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: get our other children. 131 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 5: Your Mum arrived, she picks up the kids, and I 132 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,400 Speaker 5: am like in labor, Like I'm going through the contractions. 133 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: I've got the tens machine on. It's happening. And we 134 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: were like packing the car ready to like drive to Singleton. 135 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,280 Speaker 1: Cal got me in the car. We have some netball 136 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: courts like just around the corner from our house. And 137 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: I said to Cal stop, I'm getting out and we're 138 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 1: doing it here and he was like absolutely not. There 139 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: was some colorful language. He got me back in the car. 140 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 4: Have you managed to even get out of the car. 141 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I was like the car door was opening 142 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: as he's like driving in this time, I had spoken 143 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: to a girlfriend and said like could you come and 144 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: support us as well? And she had phones Scone and 145 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: Musterbrook Hospitals to say, my girlfriend's in labor. Can she 146 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: come to you to be like assessed or checked? And 147 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: they were like absolutely not. Keep going to Singleton? 148 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 5: Is this Were you just thinking I'll go to the 149 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 5: hospital even if they don't have that, There'll be a 150 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 5: doctor there. 151 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, And they said keep going, Oh god, but I ignored 152 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: that advice. We pulled up into the Mustard Hospital car park, 153 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: Callum parked and blocked all the ambulances in and we 154 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: just got out and he went in and said, like, 155 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: my wife's in labor, she's pushing. Can someone come out 156 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: and help? And they said no, are you kidding me? Yes? 157 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 5: Yeah, So you're in a car park walking the ambulances 158 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 5: in Crowning very like songs. 159 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: We can't find a wheelchair? Mill cow bought a wheelchair 160 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: out and I was like, what do you mean where 161 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: are all the fucking people? The emergency room waiting room 162 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: was so full and like I'm like half pants down, 163 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: like screaming, moaning, like you name it, like it was colorful. 164 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: They did take me straight into like triage and like 165 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: I said, like take a seat, will come and assess you. 166 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: And I'm just thinking, has everyone seen the woman in labor? 167 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: Like this is happening? And I said, I need to 168 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: go to the toilet. And I'm not thinking that's a 169 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: red flag, Like surely that's a red flag of a 170 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: woman needs to go to the toilet in labor, like 171 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: you like don't let her. Maybe so there's a public 172 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: like toilet like right across from the bed that they'd 173 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: sat me on. And this is I'm talking, like this 174 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: whole story is like minutes. And I just went into 175 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: the toilet pants down, sat down the toilet and I 176 00:08:55,320 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: said to col I'm crowning, oh lord, And I like 177 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: half stood up from the toilet and I said catch 178 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: him and told us put his hands in and caught him. 179 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: And then the colum puts his head around the corner 180 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: of the toilet door and he's like doctor, doctor. A 181 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,599 Speaker 1: doctor comes around, looks and he puts his out and 182 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: goes nurses nurses, And I'm just like, are you kidding me? 183 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: I have really like bloody births. And so the toilet 184 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: was just like a massacre. It was so bad. They 185 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,199 Speaker 1: had to call two midwives to come in from home 186 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: to like assist me, which was wonderful. 187 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 4: What happens then? Do they put you on a bed? 188 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: Like? Do they actually they wheeled a bed over to 189 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: the toilet door, and I sat on that and then 190 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: they wheeled me round to it like a little private 191 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: treage room. 192 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 4: He said, that would have been like you would have 193 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 4: been like dinner in a show at this stage. 194 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, there were so many people that me naked. Yeah, 195 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: you know the little clip that they put on their 196 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: belly button? Yeah, yeah, yeah, they put it find one 197 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: of those, well stop, yeah, because I don't have them 198 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: in emergency. 199 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 4: And you don't have a maternity would. 200 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: Eventually found one. Took a while, but that was just 201 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,079 Speaker 1: it was comical and like I don't mean it in 202 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: like a nasty way, but it was just all these 203 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: like silly like we can't find. 204 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 5: This even in an emergency situation. They're not a at 205 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 5: awful stop right down to the whatever you know, one 206 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 5: dollar peg that goes on an umbilical cord they just give. 207 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: My wife that came in. It was just lucky that 208 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: they lived around the corner. Like I'm so grateful that 209 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: they gave their time, but like they have lives. It 210 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: was like chaos. But this is not like it can't 211 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: be reality. 212 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 2: An incredible story there from Chloe jen I mean, I 213 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 2: can't even imagine how stressful that would have been for 214 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 2: her to get rejected from two hospitals or told that 215 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 2: they're not available to take her, and then you know, 216 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,079 Speaker 2: even going to Musclegaboro Hospital, her local hospital, and then 217 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 2: saying we're not really prepared for you. That is not 218 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 2: what you want when you are trying to deliver a baby. 219 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 3: No, And it's so interesting because Chloe. When I talked 220 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 3: to her off air about her story, she was like, 221 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 3: I was so lucky, Jen, I had so many resources. 222 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: You know. 223 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,079 Speaker 3: I had the friend who called the head to the 224 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 3: other hospitals to find out where I could go. I 225 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 3: had somebody park the car. I had another person who 226 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 3: knew midwives to call them to come in like, and 227 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 3: that's forrual women, like whenever I speak to someone. We 228 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 3: actually struggled to get people to come forward at first, 229 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 3: because somebody would tell you their story, which you would 230 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 3: just be like absolutely, jaw on the floor over and 231 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 3: then she'd be like, no, no, but my friend such 232 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 3: and such down the road had it way worse than me. 233 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 3: There was always this minimalization of it, which I think 234 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 3: also has contributed to the ability to get to where 235 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 3: it's at. Andrew, and I think Chloe is a testament 236 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 3: of that. She was, you know, she she is so 237 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 3: thankful for the resource that she had and that she 238 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 3: had a safe, healthy baby. In the end, Chloe told 239 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,439 Speaker 3: her story not for herself, but she told her story 240 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 3: because she worries about the people that don't even have 241 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 3: the resources that she had. 242 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 2: You've launched a campaign to improve things for mums like 243 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 2: Chloe in regional towns. We're going to hear about it 244 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 2: in just a moment. Welcome back. I'm chatting to Jen 245 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 2: Laurie who's launched a campaign called Bush Babies to help 246 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 2: pregnant women in regional parts of Australia. Tell me all 247 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 2: about this campaign and what the aim of it is. 248 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 3: Jen. Yeah, it's a simple campaign Andrew that I say 249 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:42,080 Speaker 3: to the MPs, but it's a big ask and fixing 250 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 3: something that's been eroding for a whole generation so since 251 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 3: nineteen ninety is not a simple solution, particularly when we 252 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 3: know from the Rural Health Inquiry that maternity services are 253 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 3: not alone. Rural health all over different demographics is eroding 254 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 3: and they've got issues all over the place. So essentially 255 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 3: we've asked for an inquiry into rural maternity services. Our 256 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 3: kind of bottom line is that rural matornity services has 257 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 3: always been hacked onto another inquiry and never specifically examined 258 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,439 Speaker 3: for the systematic issues that it has. I'm just one person. 259 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 3: I don't have all the answers, and there are heaps 260 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 3: of people that have some creative solutions that they're putting 261 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,719 Speaker 3: together that are supporting different rural communities, and so we 262 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,200 Speaker 3: think an inquiry is the best way forward. The other 263 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 3: big thing that we're asking for is bundled funding. So 264 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 3: you would have heard me allude to this before. At 265 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 3: the moment, New South Wales government only funds a birth, 266 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 3: which means wherever you birth, your money stays there. We're 267 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,439 Speaker 3: asking them to bundle the funding across all of the trimesters. 268 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 3: Now I'm going to say four trimesters. I'm not an idiot, 269 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 3: I know that semesters. But allowing pockets of money to 270 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 3: trickle out to different communities, in different touch points that 271 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 3: women are interacting with across the span of their pregnancy 272 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 3: and postpartum care will allow for more funding to track 273 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 3: back to the women. Even if they don't get to 274 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 3: birth in their local communities, they're still funding there to 275 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 3: support them with heel prick tests and hearing tests and 276 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 3: mothers groups and maternal support and mental health. 277 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 2: So the aim of the campaign or the Bush Babies 278 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 2: campaign is to get an inquiry. What about people listening 279 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:16,559 Speaker 2: right now? What can they do to help? 280 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 3: If people are listening right now and they've got five minutes, 281 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 3: it's not even going to take that. It takes literally 282 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 3: two minutes. They can go on. If you're a resident 283 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 3: of New South Wales you can go on. You can 284 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 3: sign the petition. We also really excitingly Andrew Hart going 285 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 3: to be launching next week our own survey and collecting 286 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 3: our own data from rural regional remote women. What we 287 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 3: don't want to happen is in all of this is 288 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 3: the consumers' voices be lost, and so what we want 289 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 3: to do is collect our own data so that we 290 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 3: can develop recommendations. As part of the Advisory Group for 291 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 3: Rural Health, we think that we can provide some support 292 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 3: to women. So we would really ask people next week 293 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 3: to start interacting with our survey. The more women that 294 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 3: interact with it, the more powerful that data is. I 295 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 3: often talk about Andrew that data can be used as 296 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 3: a self fulfilling prophecy. For instance, if you're a small 297 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 3: rural community and you have twenty berths on the books 298 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 3: booked for the month of January, for instance, but due 299 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 3: to bypass or lack of resources and funding, you can 300 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 3: only facilitate two of those berths. It looks like it's 301 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 3: an underutilized service, which is actually not the case. It 302 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 3: was because the funding and the resources that women could 303 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 3: actually not birth there. So data can be skewed in 304 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 3: many different ways, and so what we really want to 305 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 3: do is have some really strong consumer data so that 306 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 3: we can go back to the New South Wales government 307 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 3: again and say, hey, guys, this is what the consumers 308 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 3: are saying. This is a really robust study. 309 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 2: At news dot com dot we are right behind this 310 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 2: bush Babies campaign. We think it's incredible, So if you 311 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 2: go to our site you can find a link to 312 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 2: the petition. We've also got heaps of stories of affected mums. 313 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 2: We've been sharing them over the past couple of weeks 314 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 2: and we will continue to do so. We really hope 315 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 2: that bush Babies achieves its goals because it's such a 316 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 2: worthy cause. Jen, thank you so much for launching it. 317 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 3: Thank you so much, and thank you so much to 318 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 3: Charlotteanews dot com dot a year, it was really important 319 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 3: to myself, Pip and Chevon that the women that were 320 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 3: interacting and telling their stories were really well looked after. 321 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 3: We've always maintained that people telling their stories is so 322 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 3: incredibly powerful, but also not at the detriment of their 323 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 3: mental health, and Charlotte really understood that and her team 324 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 3: have been incredible, so thank you. 325 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's episode of From the Newsroom. 326 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 2: We'll chat to you again tomorrow. 327 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: Follow us, subscribe to From the Newsroom wherever you get 328 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,040 Speaker 1: your podcasts.