A national conversation: Pathways following birth trauma in Victoria

“I acknowledge the legacy birth trauma can have on a woman’s mental, physical, social and emotional wellbeing and the impacts on their family”

– Ms Jill Ludford, Chief Executive of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District.

Every birth story is unique. For many women, traumatic experiences during childbirth lead to ongoing physical, psychological, and legal challenges that may last well beyond the delivery room.

With birth trauma now under the spotlight following the NSW Birth Trauma Report (the Inquiry), it’s important to understand what options are available to women and birthing partners who wish to raise concerns or take action after experiencing birth trauma in Victoria.

Pathways include:

• Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC): An independent body that investigates complaints about health service providers in Victoria. In NSW this body is known as the Health Care Complaints Commissioner (HCCC).
• Internal complaints mechanisms: Patients can lodge a complaint directly with the hospital or health care provider and request a review of their care.
• AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency): The national agency responsible for regulating health practitioners and investigating professional conduct.
• Legal action: Where certain thresholds are met, individuals may seek compensation through the legal system.

Health Complaints Commissioner

The Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) in Victoria is responsible for resolving healthcare related complaints without the need for legal representation.

Individuals who believe they have received inadequate or inappropriate healthcare treatment can lodge a complaint through the Commissioner’s website.

If the complaint is accepted, the Commissioner will investigate and facilitate the resolution of the complaint with the patient and healthcare professional.

Internal complaints within the hospital or health service in Victoria

The Inquiry found that the internal complaints systems for health services in NSW – intended to provide a comprehensive and proactive response to traumatic birth experiences – often placed the burden on women and families to initiate and pursue the process themselves.

Many women reported that, rather than receiving compassionate or meaningful engagement, they were met with responses that felt impersonal, formulaic, and focused on minimising medico-legal risk rather than a genuine desire to understand or address their concerns.

In Victoria, where a serious adverse patient safety event has occurred, the health service is required under the Statutory Duty of Candour legislation, to undertake a formal review of the care provided. A serious adverse patient safety event (SAPSE) is defined as an incident that resulted or could have resulted in unintended or unnecessary harm to a patient.

If a traumatic birth experience meets this criterion, the health service is required by law to provide:

• the option of participating an open disclosure meeting within 10 days of the event occurring;
• written account of the facts;
• a genuine apology;
• description of the health service’s response to the event; and
• steps the health service has taken to prevent reoccurrence.

You can read our previous article outlining your rights in this process: Statutory Duty of Candour.

AHPRA

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) is an independent national agency that monitors the registration of health practitioners across Australia to ensure that all health practitioners are appropriately qualified and trained.

AHPRA works in partnership with the National Boards in investigating complaints about the performance of individual practitioners, which can lead to sanctions including restrictions placed on the practitioner’s registration. This pathway is mainly relevant when the complaint involves concerns about a specific health professional’s conduct or competence.

Legal Action

If a person suffers physical or psychological injury as a result of experiencing – or witnessing – birth trauma, they may be entitled to bring a civil claim for compensation.

In some cases, where a procedure or intervention was performed without proper consent in a non-emergency setting, a woman may also have grounds to bring a claim in medical battery. This is an intentional tort which allows for the possibility of exemplary (punitive) damages, which are designed to punish especially egregious conduct by a practitioner.

Under Victoria’s Wrongs Act 1958, a person may claim damages where a health practitioner has breached their duty of care. Section 58 of the Act provides that treatment must be delivered with the reasonable care and skill expected of someone professing a particular professional ability. For example, if an obstetrician performs an assisted delivery using forceps or a caesarean section, they are expected to meet the standard of care and skill ordinarily exercised by a competent obstetrician in those circumstances. A failure to do so may give rise to a claim in negligence.

Informed Consent and the Committee’s Findings

In their report, the Select Committee on Birth Trauma (the Committee) found that an alarming number of women in NSW underwent medical interventions during childbirth without fully informed consent being obtained. These interventions included inductions of labour, caesarean sections, and instrumental deliveries such as the use of forceps or vacuum extraction.

The Committee emphasised that inadequate communication, withholding crucial information, or pressuring women into decisions not only breaches ethical standards, but undermines the principles of personal autonomy and bodily integrity.

Recommendations for Change

To address these serious concerns, the Committee recommended a multi-faceted response, including:

• Revising laws and clinical guidelines to strengthen the requirements for informed consent in maternity care;
• Mandating informed consent training for all maternity healthcare practitioners;
• Ensuring transparent documentation and clear communication of women’s birth choices and preferences throughout their care.

Prevention vs Compensation

While the Commitee’s report recognises the legal avenues available for compensation, its central message is that the focus must shift urgently toward the prevention of birth trauma.

The Committee found that the current system is predominantly reactive; and addresses harm only after it has occurred through internal complaints, regulatory investigations, or civil litigation – while failing to prioritise the systemic prevention of harm.

To address this, the Committee’s key recommendations emphasise investment in proactive, preventative measures, including:

• Expanding midwifery continuity of care models, ensuring women have consistent care from known providers;
• Strengthening informed consent processes and improving antenatal education;
• Embedding trauma-informed care as a standard practice across maternity services; and
• Enhancing mental health support for women and families after birth.

Ultimately, the report calls for a fundamental shift from a system that merely responds to harm to one that embraces a preventative, rights-based approach, aiming to eliminate avoidable birth trauma before it occurs.

Where are we now?

While the Inquiry focused solely on NSW, it is evident that birth trauma affects women across Australia and women’s voices must be at the centre of birth reform. Twelve months on from the Committee delivering its findings, the question remains: what, if anything, has changed?

Measuring progress can be difficult. Sadly, Brave Legal continues to receive enquiries from women describing deeply traumatic birth experiences. And a recurring theme is the lack of any meaningful debrief or explanation from care providers, leaving women feeling not only physically and emotionally wounded, but also confused and unsupported.

If you or someone you know has experienced birth trauma and believe you might be entitled to compensation, it is important to speak to a lawyer for expert legal advice tailored to your individual circumstances.

For a confidential discussion about your birth trauma injury, please contact Brave Legal on 03 9070 9816.