This webinar will discuss trauma in midwifery from the unique perspective of a midwife and birth worker, exploring how trauma can present, be carried, and be experienced within the maternity space.

This kōrero (talk) will focus on the importance of trauma-informed care across the entire whānau (family) journey recognising that birth and maternity experiences impact not only the birthing person, but partners, children, grandparents, and wider support networks.

Together the audience and speaker will reflect on ways practitioners across different disciplines can work to protect, support, and uphold the mana of whānau during pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, while creating safer and more compassionate systems of care for both those experiencing the care and providing it.

About the Presenter

Rebekah Matsas is a Christchurch-based midwife, with a strong commitment to supporting birthing whānau and improving equity in maternity care. Drawing on both her professional expertise and her own lived experience she brings a unique, compassionate, and trauma-informed perspective to her practice and research. Her current research focuses on teenage pregnancy, with a particular interest in amplifying the voices and experiences of young parents that will be developed into a verbatim play, aiming to authentically represent the realities of teenage pregnancy and challenge stigma. Rebekah is passionate about advocacy, storytelling, and creating spaces where people feel heard, respected, and supported. Through her clinical work and research, she is dedicated to improving outcomes and fostering more inclusive, responsive maternity care services.

Contact the host of What maternity care can teach us about trauma informed practice