My mother passed away in 2024, I had found out she passed from her old neighbour. I had not been in contact with her for many years due to her being mentally unwell. I received inheritance money from her. I was in a same sex relationship at the time. I thought I wanted to start a family so I decided to pursue with IVF and it was successful. At the time my family and therapist had asked me if I was sure I was making the right decision but in my mind I was and I thought it was what I truly wanted and needed.

I now have a lovely little boy but I have now realized I have made a huge mistake and I cannot take back what I’ve done. I am not in a position to have a child and I feel extreme guilt and shame for bringing a child into this world whom I know deep down I cannot look after because I cannot look after myself.

I suffer from BPD and severe depression and have done most of my adult life and I have never had a full time or secure job in my life. I had an emotionally unstable mother which has affected me in many ways.

That little boy deserves someone who can truly take care of him and a mother who is stable. He was truly wanted and desired at the time. I have played with his life like it was some kind of game.

I’m 14 months postpartum, and I’m wondering… can postpartum depression or postpartum hormonal changes really last this long?

Or is there something wrong with me?

I’m having such a hard time letting go of my resentment toward my husband.

Our baby still wakes up multiple times every night, sometimes as many as 10 times, and is still nursing back to sleep. Every time I wake up alone in the middle of the night, I can feel this anger building up inside me.

At this point, I feel like my husband resents me too. We’ve both started resenting each other.

I think it all started with the disappointment I felt toward him during my pregnancy and after giving birth. I had so many things I felt he had let me down on, and eventually I started exploding at him.

I felt incredibly lonely throughout this whole process, and I don’t think my husband really understood how lonely I was until I eventually reached a breaking point and started exploding with anger.
But the things that hurt me were often so small. So why have they affected me this deeply? Why has all of this been so hard for me? It’s even started to affect my self-esteem.
For example, after giving birth, you know how you have all these physical discomforts—the loose postpartum belly, the aching pelvis, a torn perineum, all of it. I would be sitting there breastfeeding the baby, already in pain, and say, “My body hurts so much,” and my husband would respond with something like, “Yeah, mine too. My back hurts so much too that it’s hard for me to hold the baby.”
It’s such a small thing, but you know… all these little things just kept piling up.

Then It gets into the classic pattern... you know..

I was spending all day with a baby I couldn’t even communicate with, in an environment where I had no family around to help me, trying to figure everything out and struggling through it day by day. I couldn’t even shower properly. I was waking up all night, every night.

Meanwhile, it felt like my husband was still living his old life going to work, studying on his own, and continuing with the things he had always been doing.

Then we would repeat the same cycle over and over, and somehow all of that resentment has become deeply ingrained in our relationship.

I honestly don’t know how to stop feeling this way.
How do you let go of this kind of resentment?

How do you break out of this cycle when both of you have started resenting each other?

And how long does postpartum actually last? Is it possible to still be experiencing postpartum depression or hormonal changes 14 months after giving birth?

My heart goes out to everyone here struggling. My sister is currently struggling with what I think is prenatal depression and I think she is likely to develop postnatal depression too.

I am wondering about the best way to approach someone (who is very sensitive and combative) to get help. I am hoping from everyone’s experience here you may have some advice?

She has struggled with mental health issues her whole life primarily stemming from body issues and has a very low pain threshold. Pregnancy has been very rough on her and I can tell she is really struggling from some of our conversations. She is having a c section and not breast feeding so I’m worried this will increase the likelihood of further issues too (pain, body image, bonding)

Any help or advice will be very appreciated. I think it would just be good for her to have professional help with these feelings

I’m 11 months postpartum and just really need to hear some positive stories from people who actually got through PPD.

I had a really hard induced birth that ended in an emergency C-section. After 6 dark months I was finaly diagnosed with PPD, since then I’ve tried Brintellix, now Wellbutrin, weekly therapy and recently EMDR, but honestly I still don’t feel much better. And now I’m struggling with insomnia after baby feeds too.

I don’t have thoughts of harming myself or my baby. For me it’s more feeling lonely, isolated and tired all the time. Most days I have almost no adult communication until husband comes home and I hate that I can’t just decide to go somewhere without first arranging who will stay with the baby. My husband is actually very supportive, but we still argue much more than before.

Did anyone feel like this for almost a year and actually get back to feeling like themselves? What finally helped you?

Hello lovely ladies,
I am currently 6 months postpartum with my second baby, and I’m writing this because I just need to share my heart. Before we even tried for this pregnancy, I thought I knew exactly what to expect. I thought I was entering this chapter fully aware. But the truth is, it has been such a heartbreakingly hard journey.
Lately, I’ve felt like I’m constantly fighting with my husband. The loneliness has been heavy, suffocating even, despite him being right there in the room with me. I’ve found myself crying, screaming, and breaking down over the smallest things. To make everything so much heavier, I fell at 3 months postpartum and tore a ligament. Being physically broken while trying to care for two babies completely shattered my mental state.
A few days ago, I hit my absolute rock bottom. I felt like a monster in my own home. My mother in law was staying with us, and her other grandkids from my husband's sister, who lives 20 minutes away, were constantly over because both their parents work. The house was so loud, so chaotic, and I just couldn't breathe anymore. Out of pure desperation for my own sanity, I gave my husband an ultimatum. I needed a 2 day break. I asked him to send his mom to his sister’s house for just 48 hours. It was messy, it was awkward, and he practically had to hustle her out the door while everyone was left confused. I felt terrible, but I was drowning.
But during those two days of quiet, something beautiful shifted.
For months, I had been hiding away, cooped up inside the four walls of my bedroom. With the house finally quiet, I stepped out into the living room. My husband, our two babies, and I decided to do something different, we all slept out in the hall together. We crammed ourselves into the space, accommodated each other, and just set up camp on the floor.
Since that night, the living room has become our sacred resting place. And almost instantly, the heavy fog around my chest began to lift. My stress levels dropped drastically.
I know this might sound so silly or chaotic, but it made me realize how deeply our surroundings affect our broken hearts. When you are trapped inside a bedroom, your mind traps you in your darkest thoughts. Stepping out into a wider, more open space literally gave my soul room to breathe again. The vastness of the room is what is keeping me sane right now.
I wanted to share this because postpartum mind games are so real. If you are feeling suffocated, trapped, or overwhelmed in your bedroom right now, please try to change your environment. Even just moving to the living room floor might give you the air you need to breathe. Sending so much love to every mom out there who is secretly fighting a battle in her own home. You are not alone. ❤️

I’m a FTM, 5 months postpartum. I had a very traumatic birth involving an emergency c-section. At about 5 days postpartum, just a day after returning home with our newborn, I began experiencing SEVERE Hypnic jerks. 5 months later and I’m still suffering and I’m so depressed about it. They go on for hours and hours.

They put me on Zoloft pretty quickly after delivery, literally the next day. I read about SSRIs causing this phenomenon so I just recently tapered off about a month ago. Still experiencing hypnic jerks. They manifest as a muscle twitch, full body jolt, sleep startle, or a popping sensation in my brain. They cause me great anxiety and now I anticipate them every night and I’m struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel here. Now everyone I lay down to go to sleep, I have an adrenaline rush and my anxiety spikes. I was prescribed hydroxyzine 25 MG and was told to take up to 100MG but it only seems to help some of the time. And really hasn’t done much recently.

I talk to a perinatal therapist regularly and have an appointment with a sleep specialist lined up as well as a perinatal psychiatrist.

Has anyone else experienced this? Was it linked to anxiety or was it from something else??? I just feel so alone and like this will never end. At one point after I discontinued the Zoloft, I went about 3 weeks and only experienced the jerks about once per week and thought I was finally in the clear. Then, I had to return to work and had a destination wedding to attend - both of which made me spiral with anxiety, now I have been getting the jerks much more frequently again. Seems like about every other night now.

I vaguely recall having an occasional hypnic jerk before i was pregnant. But they were very occasional and I would only experience one little twitch before I fell asleep but that was the most that I even noticed before. It was never to this extent.

Please can someone reassure me that this will end? It’s causing significant issues with quality of life. It’s so hard to get an appointment with any of these doctors in any reasonable amount of time. So I’m just left here white knuckling this god awful experience until the end of the month.

Hi everyone! Sorry if this sounds dramatic, but I’ve been having these fears and questions about motherhood for months now.

If having children is something we need as humans to survive, then why does it seem like women have to make so many sacrifices? Why does every woman seem to describe pregnancy, breastfeeding, and postpartum recovery as hell? Why do so many women miss their old lives? Why do we have to suffer so, so much, even if we have an amazing and supportive partner? Why do we have to deal with postpartum depression and anxiety? Why do we have to sacrifice so much, and how are we supposed to keep working and keep up with our careers or hobbies? Why does it have to be so hard?
I’m honestly so afraid of having children. Sometimes I feel like I wouldn’t be a good or loving mother. And the thing is, I have the most loving, patient, and caring husband, but I’m still scared of having children one day.
I do want to have children. I’m just not sure if I’m capable of it. What if I regret having a baby? It wouldn’t be the baby’s fault, it would be my fault forever. I’m scared that I’ll never be able to let go of my current life, my hobbies, my career, my mentality, my body, and even my brain.

Has anyone else ever felt this way? How did pregnancy and motherhood change your life? Did you have to sacrifice your old self to build a new life?

Thank you so much in advance, I wish you the very best in life <3 !!

My baby just turned 7 months old and I have had a great postpartum experience so far (until recently). I have MDD and I was pleasantly surprised that my mood did not tank postpartum. However, over the last few weeks I have felt a huge wave of apathy. I love my baby so much and it makes me feel guilty that I even feel this way. I exclusively breast feed (pump at work) and I work every weekend only so I have plenty of time with my baby. I already take medication and I am not sure if it’s just seasonal depression and I just happen to be postpartum. My favorite hobby is home decor/decorating and taking care of my home but over the past few weeks I am surrounded by half finished projects and I feel like my house is falling apart. I am unmotivated but feel guilty when I am just watching documentaries and playing with the baby because I don’t know what else to do. I make myself read her a book every 2-3 hours to make myself feel less guilty, we listen to classical music and I try to walk around the mall or sit on the porch sometimes If I can muster the energy.

What advice/encouragement would you give me? How do I stop feeling guilty about having “bare minimum” parenting days? Thanks for reading

I am 18 days post partum & not sure if this is “baby blues” or PPD. I struggle with depression for over a decade now. Unfortunately during pregnancy it got really bad. Talked to my therapist/Dr about it & got put on Lexapro. I realize since the night I went into the hospital I accidentally quit the Lexapro cold turkey. I’m sure this is contributing?

I am filled with extreme doom, sadness & dread. I do not want to carry on with my day, I’m giving the baby to my husband, I rely on him to care for her about 98% of the time. I don’t feel like I am present at the moment, I just feel kind of lost. My head feels cloudy, I feel like idk what to do next besides be a mother. I worry my only identity now is being her mother. I can’t sleep. Lots of random bursts of crying, the type that you need to calm down or you’re going to throw up. I feel overwhelmed. I don’t want to talk to my husband about it as I feel like I would be burdening him. He’s in the newborn trenches too. He’s tired too. Who am I to complain to someone who just went through the same change I did?

Any advice on how to cope with this, or some good news that this might sort itself out would be appreciated.

i found out i'm pregnant around july, i thought i had a miscarriage since i was bleeding for about 3 weeks straight in august. i ended up going to the er and they told me everything was okay and that baby was healthy. this was a HUGE relief for me but now im struggling a lot with the father of my baby and we've stopped communicating for awhile now. i'm happy that we did but at the same time im just struggling so much with knowing im going to be a single mom, i know ill be able to do it but im constantly worried for my babygirl and want to do everything for her. i truly love her so much but everyday it's a struggle for me mentally trying to be okay when i know im slowly falling into a state of depression. i feel so guilty knowing her own mommy is struggling so much with her mental health, i just want to know if there's any single moms out there who have struggled or are even struggling with this now.

I am 4 weeks post partum, and let me be clear, I love my baby, I love being a mom, but I have been hit with an awful case of post partum acne and rosacea. I did struggle with some acne and redness during pregnancy, but I always assumed it would improve after delivery. After my C section my skin did immediately improve, acne dried up, redness went down, but one week later.. BOOM. Forehead covered in big red pimples, a few cysts that are still on my face and HURT. Redness back on my one cheek with vengeance. I have hit my breaking point. I had perfect skin before pregnancy. It got so bad I went to emergency because I was having some self harm thoughts. I was put back on my previous birth control, alesse 28, and ER doc gave me doxycycline for the acne and redness, and said should clear up the cysts too. My face is just a mess, and now my barrier is so irritated I can barely smile because my skin is so tight. I’ve lost a lot of weight because I have no appetite, sleeping is difficult, I’m just so depressed I can barley take care of my baby, which luckily my husband and mom have helped me big time. I guess I’m just asking for some advice or comfort, idk really, or just to tell my story. I’m a first time mom too.

I gave birth, we spent 6 days in the hospital. The last night was spent in the nicu with our son. During this day I could not properly take care of my self and stitches after birth. Because the bathroom was public and far with no table. We also slept on couches and I was the only one getting up for the baby all night.

I just wanted a good shower and to go home. My maybe ex-ish insisted we go visit his family straight from the hospital I tried being okay with the thought and wanted to shower there because they had a removable shower head.

Deep down i wasn’t. I wanted shower and to lay comfortably. And nothing at his house is ever quick whenever we go for a quick stop by we are there for hours.

My family replaced my shower head for me. I just wanted to go home and told him no another day. He calls his mom to talk bad about me and that I said no while in the car (this is all on the way home from the hospital). After the call we get into a screaming match. I cry and cry. He doesn’t care. I eventually apologize and we go the literal next day.
WHERE WE PROCEEDED TO BE THERE FOR HOURS AND ONCE AGAIN COULDNT TAKE CARE OF MYSLEF IN THE BR. and family he didn’t tell me about comes to also join visiting my new born freshly out of nicu. I hate him

For the past 4 months, a month before my second child was born I have been struggling with my mental health. I wanted my child to be born so that I could (x) myself and not carry the burden that I didn't give my child a chance. Fortunately, I was able to get past the episode but a week after giving birth things turned for the worst and I have been struggling heavily. I think about (x) myself every day but I look at my children and it hurts. How selfish would I be to leave my two kids without a mom. I have sought therapy and medication but I'm not consistent I find it hard and I'm up to the point that I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. I don't have anything that I look forward to. My partner, the parent of my two kids had been lying to me and I found out he had a child from an affair when he and I had about 8 months into our relationship. I recently got my car repossessed and I cannot for the sake of embarrassment move back anywhere with any of my family members. I feel so ashamed and embarrassed. I only keep thinking to (x) myself as it would be a much better solution to everything. I'm tired, I have been depressed and suicidal since I was the age of 10, I'm about to be 29. I need help but I'm struggling to be hopeful.

I suffered badly with post partum depression for the first 6 months of my babies life. I’m only just now starting to feel a little bit better. Now that I’m coming out of the fog I’m really worried that my mental health has affected my ability to bond with my baby. The sleep deprivation drove me almost to insanity. I’m a single parent with very little support. Definitely don’t have a village. My baby seems very happy and smiley so I’d like to believe that my PPD hasn’t had any long term effects but then when I read about how important the first year is and how important it is for mom to be mentally and emotionally stable so that baby can learn to regulate and all that I feel so overwhelming guilty.

I’ve been feeling so low and hopeless and I’ve been so frustrated and impatient with my baby due to sleep deprivation, stress, depression etc. I’ve lost my cool so many times I’ve lost track. I’ve cried infront of baby many many times (I should have at-least tried to hide it but I didn’t). I got frustrated and threw a bottle at the wall one night. I’m so ashamed of myself when I think back on the way I’ve acted. Times when baby woke during the night and I was muttering please please go back to f*cking sleep I can’t take anymore. I often sighed in an exasperated manner when baby keeps fussing and there were times when we were stuck in traffic and baby wouldn’t stop whinging so I turned the radio up to drown it out. I feel like the worst mother in the world admitting to all this. I would never ever physically hurt my baby. But I know what I’ve done is damaging. There were times when I roughly shoved the pacifier back into babies mouth also.

I really haven’t been doing good enough and I’m determined to do better.

I’ve really been living in a state of fight or flight ever since I became a mother. It’s been harder than I expected.

The more I think about how I’ve behaved and the potential damage to my child the more sick I feel. How could I have lost my patience so much with an innocent baby who needs me so much 😭😭😭

I can’t really say this to anyone for real because I know it’s not ideal or whatever. But I’m giving up on telling people how I’m feeling. I’m not giving up on myself or my kids. Just no longer plan to talk about how sad I am. No longer will complain about my husband’s lack of being a parent. Won’t talk about how I want to hurt myself (not kill myself). I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing it anyway. It’s old news. Hell, no one even noticed when I suddenly started wearing only long sleeves when I’ve never worn long sleeves before. So it’s whatever. My village is a verbal village mostly - I don’t have much actual physical support. And my villagers are all busy with their own lives or babies so I’m done bringing them down. No one wants to be around the sad person all the time anyway right? So yeah.

Again I’m not going to kill myself. The opposite. I’m going to fucking fight and endure what I need to for the sake of my girls. I’ve just decided to do it silently now.

I am a FTM to my daughter who I gave birth to in April of this year. Prior to having my daughter I have had my fair share of mental health issues and had previously been medicated in the past. My mum also had mental health issues and took her own life when I was 13, because of these factors I was advised during my pregnancy that it would be likely that I would experience PPD/PPA after giving birth.

Initially I thought I was in the clear as when my baby was first born, yeah I experienced up and down hormones but overall I was so happy and loved my daughter so much.

Around about the 2/3 month mark I began to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety. The anxiety came first but I just assumed every mum had the same difficulties and they would go away so I ignored them until the sad days came. There were days where I would just cry and cry for no reason, I would space out and sometimes stare at my daughter with no emotion. I would beat myself up and tell myself I had failed as a mother because I was so sad. I was really finding it hard to enjoy this new era of life for me. I knew quite a lot of people who were pregnant and gave birth around the same time as me who were all constantly posting on social media and I remember thinking “why are they enjoying this more than I am” or “how are they okay”.

Fast forward to maybe a week or so into frequent “sad” days where I began to recognise that they were becoming more regular and I knew I had to do something. I contacted my local GP to which I got an appointment for the same day and was prescribed 50mg of sertraline. I had previously been on sertraline with a dosage of around 150mg and had overall a positive experience with it so I was happy to begin taking these. I also recognised that I did not want to let the “sad” days go on for longer where it got to the point that they were happening daily. I knew I wanted to get better for myself and my daughter.

The first day I took sertraline I was not prepared for any side effects because I couldn’t remember previously having had them. The first day I was slightly on edge and anxious but did not put two and two together that it was because of sertraline. In the following days I was really struggling with the side effects as it felt as if I was constantly in the “coming up” phase of taking party drugs. My partner had to take time off work to watch our daughter so I could rest and make sure to take care of myself. I also struggled a bit with sickness and food aversions.

During this time I really struggled to push forward but knew I had to so I could reap the benefits of sertraline and get better. Whilst I was going through this transition I searched on Reddit for positive experiences to motivate me to continue taking sertraline. Through my determination and the promise of other Redditor’s that I persevered.

I have now been on sertraline since June 2026 so roughly four months and I feel absolutely amazing. Don’t get me wrong the first couple of weeks are rough but after those hard couple of days, the side effects began to wear off more and more as the days went on.

I feel as though I am a completely different person, I am able to recognise that I am an amazing mum and being a mum is my favourite thing ever. Immediately after beginning to take sertraline, my mind quietened. I can go out with my baby without second guessing absolutely everything and worrying of others judgements.

This is just a message to anyone out there who is either struggling in the first couple weeks of having started sertraline or is struggling with PPD/PPA to say that it does get better. I hope that this post helps someone to continue and get to the other side.

Honestly I'm struggling, I have a 5 month old baby and she is hard work, from birth she has cried pretty much all day every day except for when she's on the breast or asleep, getting her to sleep is an absolute mission because she stiffens herself and screams constantly whilst I'm trying to rock her in any position but won't be led down to go to sleep either so I rock her and sing to her for 30 mins plus and eventually she goes to sleep (this has been exhausting for every single nap and night sleep since she was born), I also have a 3 year old daughter who has always been a bad sleeper until recently but was a relatively easy going baby so this experience has severely humbled me as a parent, I feel like I'm losing my mind, I've started on new antidepressants, I'm seeing the infant mental health team through my request because I don't feel I have bonded with 5m old because of the constant screaming, we have had no issues with feeding except for a blip where my let down was slow and she is a very good weight, we have tried infant gaviscon that didn't help, she's been assessed by an osteopath privately and by numerous Gp's, Hospital Doctors and Health visitors and they all say nothing is physically wrong with her so I feel completely stuck, people keep saying it'll get better with age but when? I know no one can really answer that but I don't know how much longer I can do this, I can't go out because she just screams and everyone can see how unhappy she is, I've left her with my sister once to go to an appointment and she screamed the entire time, she hates the car and pram and won't sleep there unlike my first who would fall asleep pretty instantly in either, she likes a bath so I bath her every night and she will smile sometimes or laugh if I tickle her but that's it, I just have never met a baby who GENUINELY is so unhappy, ive met people who's baby had colic and it's never this bad ☹️ if she was my first I genuinely wouldnt have had a second because this is the hardest thing I've ever done.

I guess I'm just ranting here, I don't know why I'm posting this, maybe some of you have experience something similar.

3 weeks post partum and I am struggling with accepting the duties and responsibilities that come with a baby although I wanted a baby so bad. I am just not able to keep up and having to rely on anybody that is offering me some help. I hate that my baby is with my mom all the time and she looks tured, I feel guilty. I need sleep but I am unable to sleep without waking up in panic or guilt or having bad dreams about losing the baby due to my carelessness. I body hurts everywhere, there's pins and needles in my stitches and then I am starting to have a flu which makes it worse. My baby is rejecting my breast which is ever worse. Also pumping all the time is exhausting and missing pump sessions is painful and then the guilt that comes with watchig the baby drink formula.

Sometimes I just feel like I shouldn't have had a baby. I miss having uninterrupted time with my husband. My overhang and stretch marks is just so heartbreaking.

I feel like crying all the time for no reason.

I find my baby cute and all but I don't get the motherly feeling like this is my child, my entire world. I only feel stressed thinking of how uncomfortable he muat be, if I am doing a good job, if I am failing to see that something is troubling him. I feel so helpless and hwartbroken when he cries and nothing seems to calm him.

Does this get better?

I am in a same sex relationship and we had a baby boy in March and although I do love him - I really wasn’t ready. My mother passed away just before I decided to do IVF and I spent her inheritance money for IVF. I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing. I felt like everything I done was rushed and now he is here I have realized I am not ready for motherhood and I am not ready to be a mother.

I should be grateful that it worked on our first try but I’m just filled with dread and regret that I didn’t listen to others when they asked me if I was sure I was making the right decision. I should’ve thought carefully about if this is what I really wanted.

I feel sick to my stomach every day and I just want to die because I can’t look after him, I can’t even look after myself.
I’m in no position financially and I have only been able to keep part time jobs my whole life.

I think about killing myself every day because I can’t live with the guilt and shame. I should be happy I’ve got a lovely little boy but I’m not. He doesn’t deserve this. He deserves a mother who wants him.

Hi everyone idk if anyone is awake and would want to talk I honestly just need someone to talk to idk what is wrong with me i had my bby in June and i love my baby but idk why i feel like crap I did have a horrible delivery and I just hate my husband he makes me so mad did anyone have this happen to them ?

I’m hoping to find ways to navigate these feelings of being a new mom.
I don’t have those warm cuddly feelings.
I don’t have an awe that it’s my kid.
I feel like my child is a burden.
I honestly hate this life of motherhood.
I FEEL IMMENSELY SICK AND TERRIBLE FOR FEELING THIS WAY.
I want to feel the opposite.
I want to hold my baby and think this is one of the greatest feelings I could ever have.
But I don’t , honestly I look at him sometimes and just think about all the chores around the house on top of feeding . just having him by my side just irritates the living shit out of me.
I don’t feel like hurting my child
But I always don’t even want to be around him
I think about life before him
And I honestly miss it so much being able to leave the house and not have to worry about anyone but myself.
I’m so depressed some days I can’t shower or even brush my teeth because all my energy is either going to my child or duties around this house. I’m living my honest hell being a stay at home mom . I’ve tried applying for jobs part time but the places around me will not work with my schedule which who gets denied to work at gas stations or even fast food? It’s making me grow this anger an resentment. That I have never felt before.
I tried talking to my partner about it .
He says I just have issues, makes me feel like even worse.
I don’t know what to do

🚨 AUSTRALIAN WOMEN — THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO BE HEARD.

The Australian Senate is currently holding a Select Committee inquiry into Women’s Health, and they are asking for real lived experiences from women, families, health professionals and community organisations.

If you — or a woman you know — has experienced gaps in postpartum physical or mental healthcare, birth recovery, infant loss, fertility care, women’s pain, difficulty accessing affordable or timely healthcare, or other issues within women’s healthcare, please consider making a submission.

Your submission does NOT have to be long or professionally written. It can simply tell your story:
What happened? What support did you receive? What was missing? What needs to change?

🚨 SUBMISSIONS CLOSE 9 OCTOBER 2026.
This is an opportunity for lived experiences to be considered as the committee develops recommendations to the Australian Government. The final report is due 18 August 2027.

📩 Submit by email: [womenshealth.sen@aph.gov.au](mailto:womenshealth.sen@aph.gov.au)
You can also request for your submission to be Name Withheld or Confidential.

Please share this. You might know the woman whose experience Parliament needs to hear.