Event Details

Are we getting maternity care right for larger bodied women? 

Weight stigma is common in maternity care. It is linked with poor pregnancy outcomes, including high blood pressure, mental illness, birth problems, lower breastfeeding rates, poorer long-term maternal and child health, and intergenerational stigma. Approximately half of Australian women of reproductive age live in larger bodies, meaning over 3.3 million women are at risk of experiencing weight stigma during their preconception, pregnancy and postpartum life stages.

The Body Positive Alliance drives a program of consumer-led research which aims to develop maternity care that is free of stigma, shame and discrimination based on body size. Our multidisciplinary panel including consumer, researcher, midwifery and obstetric medical perspectives will discuss and reflect on the current weight-centric approach to maternity care, possible unintended impacts, and the need for paradigm shift.

• Larger bodied women’s perspectives on current approaches to maternity care
• The importance of partnership with consumers in the Body Positive Birth program of research. 
• Socioecological perspectives and the evidence of the impact of weight stigma on women
• Midwifery perspectives on working with the tensions in our current guidelines for larger bodied women
• Obstetric medical reflections on evolving from BMI-focussed approaches to weight inclusive clinical practice

Speakers:

Ms Ahlia Griffiths is a maternity consumer representative, actively involved in maternity consumer representation at the State and National level. She is a mum of two, and shares her lived experience from a First Nations perspective. 

Dr Bec Jenkinson is a maternity consumer advocate-turned-researcher. She is a Research Fellow in the Australian and Women and Girls Health Research Centre at the University of Queensland. 

Dr Briony Hill is an ARC DECRA Fellow and Senior Research Fellow in the Health and Social Care Unit at Monash University. 

Assoc Prof Lauren Kearney is a Conjoint Associate Professor of Midwifery at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the University of Queensland's School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. 

Prof Leonie Callaway is a general and obstetric physician, Executive Director of Women, Children and Families Stream for Metro North Hospital and Health Service, and Director of Research in Women’s and Newborn Services at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.