The birth of a baby is often a life-changing event, but for many women their life isn't just altered by a new person in their family. Many women who give birth in Australia sustain pelvic injuries that seriously affect their lives... From caring for their families, to returning to work. ABC journalist Mary Lloyd says the number of women suffering with pelvic injuries is still unknown.
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00:00 Hundreds of thousands of women give birth every year in Australia.
00:06 And we know that 3% of them suffer from severe vaginal tears.
00:12 But other than that, we don't know.
00:14 There's no national data on the prevalence of prolapse.
00:17 So that's when the pelvic floor muscles weaken or are damaged and the organs can actually
00:22 slip down into the vagina.
00:25 And incontinence, we don't ask women about their experience with incontinence.
00:30 There is some emerging research which is starting.
00:33 There's a study that is coming out soon.
00:36 It's done on the Gold Coast through Griffith University.
00:40 And that, they've been asking women about their experience.
00:43 And it looks like a third of women suffer from urinary incontinence three months after
00:50 birth.
00:51 One in ten, faecal incontinence.
00:54 And half of women experience pain during sex.
00:57 Women are told to exercise pelvic muscles when they're pregnant, aren't they?
01:03 Is that one thing that women can do?
01:05 And what's the treatment for when there is pelvic injury?
01:08 Yes, so exercising pelvic floor muscles is very important unless you've got an overactive
01:14 pelvic floor.
01:16 And then you don't want those muscles then tensing up during birth.
01:20 So that's why it's really important to get that medical oversight.
01:25 Now the Australian Physiotherapy Association, they're pushing now for five sessions with
01:31 a trained pelvic floor physiotherapist during pregnancy and after birth.
01:39 So working with a physio could then help you to understand your risk of having a pelvic
01:45 injury.
01:46 Working out whether you've got an overactive or maybe a weak pelvic floor.
01:49 And then also helping with that therapy after birth if you do suffer an injury.
01:55 What conclusions have you come to, Mary, about how the health system deals with women who
02:00 suffer these injuries?
02:04 At the moment, it's pretty poor.
02:06 We put a lot of energy and care into delivering healthy babies, which is of course very important.
02:14 But that continuity of care with the women, it just isn't there yet.
02:18 So I think there needs to be, and a lot of people are starting to question now, whether
02:24 we need to have maternity services that provide more sustained care, comprehensive care for
02:33 women after they give birth.
02:36 And then just finding out what their experiences are and recording that information systematically.
02:43 Getting public hospitals to ask women about their experiences so that we get some kind
02:50 of systematic national data about these problems in the community.
02:55 And just a word about these women that came forward to talk to you about this.
02:59 Quite a daunting prospect for them.
03:00 Yes, they've been very brave.
03:03 It's a big challenge getting out there on a national platform and saying, "I've got issues
03:08 with incontinence."
03:10 So they've been incredible, but I think it really speaks to the fact that women are not
03:16 prepared to put up with this kind of treatment any longer, and they don't want to see other
03:21 women suffering in the same way that they have.
03:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]