‘I felt guilty’: women reveal harrowing details to groundbreaking NSW birth trauma inquiry

Birth trauma survivor Jessica Santos told the NSW select committee on birth trauma of her own experiences during childbirth. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

For a year after her daughter’s birth, Jessica Santos felt disappointed in herself.

When she arrived at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital to give birth, the midwife who had supported her throughout her pregnancy was not able to help her, despite being on shift that day.