S10 Ep 3 Advocating for Trauma-Free Birth Experiences

The She Births® Podcast

Welcome to Season 10 Episode 3 of the She Births® Podcast. This is our Taboos and Truths season.

And today holds a bit of both, like our previous episodes.

In episode 1 and 2 we covered conversations about our pelvic floor and our boobs. Two essential parts of the body as we birth are often filled with taboo, shame and confusion. So I hope those previous chats have helped bring more awareness, truth, and empowerment into your field in relationship with your body and mind.

Today I talk with Sharon Settecasse, a mother and community advocate from Better Births Illawarra @betterbirthsillawarra

Sharon is a space holder whose work is rooted in reclaiming and healing self, community and culture. Her ancestry is Argentinean and her story and responsibilities are now interwoven on Dharawal Country, south of Sydney.

Sharon’s work involves visioning collective liberation, connecting with each other, and dismantling colonial and patriarchal systems while honoring the intergenerational strength and collective resilience of marginalised peoples.

Sharon is the president and co-founder of Better Births Illawarra, a fierce grassroots community advocacy organisation committed to ensuring every mother and birthing parent has access to an empowered birth through respectful, just and humane maternity care.

In my chat today, we get to celebrate something rare yet powerful—triumph in the birthing space. For decades, we've seen choices taken away from women and their families, interventions on the rise, and far too much trauma as well. But amidst all this, a group of incredible women from the Wollongong area have been fighting for better births, not just for themselves, but for all of us.

I'm honored to be joined by one of these trailblazers, Sharon as she shares with us their recent victory in expanding the Midwifery Group Practice at Wollongong Hospital’s Birth Centre, and how this win is not just a triumph for the Illawarra, but represents even more in terms of the power of community, advocacy and the powerful ripple effects of writing to our ministers and recent birth trauma inquiry.

I have spoken about it before but we'll dive into the groundbreaking parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma—a victory that’s already igniting action in New Zealand, the UK, and beyond. Truths, when they are spoken and come into the open work like wildfire—each triumph fuels the next. Truths and healing on a collective level is one of the most powerful ways we can help ourselves and our sisters and children. Speaking the truth, breaking taboo, releasing pain and shame is actually helping us move toward a world where birth is safer, more empowering, and filled with choice.

I hope this conversation inspires you as much as it has inspired me. Let's celebrate these victories and continue pushing for change together!

I hope wherever you are on your journey as a parent or birthworker that this podcast helps to have a beautiful birth and create more beautiful births for others.

Please share with a friend, review and subscribe as it really helps us deliver more podcasts to more families.

You can find Sharon and her crew @betterbirthsillawarra