Louise Thompson

I have lived experience.

And I just really, really don't want what happened to me to continue to happen to many other women that are less fortunate and have less privilege and less resources and that don't end up healing and surviving.

Because...

There have been partners who have messaged me to say that they've lost their wives.

And that, I remember when I received my first message like that, it actually completely broke me.

So I always knew that there was something that I wanted to do to make lasting change.

And, you know, it is that cliche thing of...

turning something terrible into something good.

And I think as humans, we're always searching for meaning.

We're such problem solvers as it is.

I couldn't find any meaning behind what had happened to me because it was just awful and it could have been avoided.

And so this felt like the answer.

And when I went through those worst times, I thought that I was totally alone.

I thought that I was just this hugely unlucky person.

I thought I was one in 100 million.

There are 30,000 women a year that end up with PTSD following a traumatic birth.

That's 5% of all births.

And I think with somebody to take control of everything, we have a health minister.

It's not enough.

They don't have enough time to focus solely on the maternity care in this country.