Your Postpartum Story Matters
Updated: Sep 29
Have Your Voice Heard: The Senate Inquiry Into Women's Health
There is a rare opportunity in Australia right now for mothers to have their voices heard about postpartum care.
It began with a story.
In August, Senator Marielle Smith shared her own experience of breastfeeding difficulties and postpartum anxiety and called for a national inquiry into postpartum healthcare.
The Senate went on to establish a Select Committee on Women’s Health, which is now inviting submissions from the public about postpartum healthcare and other women’s health issues.
Submissions close on 9 October 2026.
Why this matters to me
As a mother and postpartum doula, this inquiry feels deeply personal.
My own transition into motherhood was not what I expected. After a traumatic birth with my first son, I experienced feeding challenges, sleep deprivation, isolation and postnatal depression and anxiety.
Looking back, I can see just how vulnerable I was during that time, and how much difference the right support could have made.
That experience eventually became part of the reason I created Peaceful Postpartum.
I believe becoming a mother deserves to be recognised as a profound transition in its own right. While so much attention naturally turns towards a new baby, we also need to ask:
How is the mother?
Postpartum doesn't end at six weeks
Postpartum is sometimes spoken about as though it is simply a short period of physical recovery after birth.
But the transition into motherhood can involve enormous physical, psychological, emotional, relational and social change, and those changes don't suddenly end at six weeks.
We have wonderful health professionals, services and examples of excellent care. But mothers' experiences of accessing postpartum support can vary enormously.
This inquiry is an opportunity for those experiences to be heard.
Your experience matters
Your postpartum story doesn't need to be recent or entirely negative to be worth sharing.
Perhaps there was support you desperately needed, but couldn't access.
Perhaps you felt alone or overwhelmed.
Perhaps you received wonderful care and want decision-makers to understand what made that care so valuable.
Perhaps your experience simply left you thinking: there has to be a better way to support mothers after birth.
All of these experiences can contribute to the conversation about what postpartum care in Australia could look like.
Have your voice heard
A submission doesn't need to be a long or formal. You can simply tell your story in your own words.
If you're unsure where to begin, you might reflect on:
What was my postpartum experience like?
What support did I receive?
What support did I need?
What would I like to see change for future mothers?
Newborn Mothers, where I completed my postpartum doula training, has created resources to make the submission process easier, including a quick submission option and guidance for writing your own personalised submission.
One important thing to know: submissions may be published online and remain there for many years. If you would prefer your story to remain private, you can request that your submission be kept confidential and not published.
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