From Conception to Connection: Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

Pregnancy Associated Cancer (PAC) refers to a cancer diagnosed during pregnancy or in the year following birth. PACs are a growing global health issue with complexities that affect women’s physical, psychosocial, emotional wellbeing inclusive of their breastfeeding experiences and decision-making. Currently, there is limited research, and an absence of guidelines/policies which inform on holistic and supportive care. This presentation will focus on the finding of three systematic reviews that explore “Women’s Experiences of PAC Care”, “Healthcare Professionals Experiences of Providing PAC Care” and the “Breastfeeding Experiences and Decision-Making of Women’s Affected by Cancer.

After this presentation, participants will be able to:.

1. Recognise and describe the features of PAC to support early identification in clinical practice.
2. Recognise and support holistic and supportive care determinants for women affected by Pregnancy Associated Cancers
3. Support breast and infant feeding experiences and decisions, including considering donor human milk, for women affected by cancer

Breastfeeding challenges are often approached as individual maternal or infant problems. However, they frequently arise within broader maternity care systems that prioritise efficiency, standardisation and surveillance over relational, physiological care. This presentation examines what Dr Robyn Thompson has described as the “isation syndrome”, a framework that explores how contemporary maternity care has become increasingly medicalised, technicalised, institutionalised and system driven. These processes shape how women are prepared for pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, and how care is delivered in time pressured, task oriented environments. This session explores how common maternity care practices can alter infant oral function, undermine maternal confidence and contribute to nipple pain, escalating intervention and early weaning. Attention is given to how performance based expectations and reduced relational care affect both women and healthcare professionals working within modern business models of care. The presentation invites health professionals to step back from isolated problems and diagnoses and consider breastfeeding as part of a continuous physiological transition from pregnancy and birth. It offers a systems informed lens to support reflective practice, continuity of care and informed decision making that protects breastfeeding physiology in the early postnatal period.

Individuals with disabilities experience persistent inequities in maternity care, often driven by gaps in disability identification, communication, and service design rather than clinical risk alone. Recent research has highlighted that disability is frequently invisible within maternity systems, resulting in unmet support needs and fragmented care for people with disabilities. This presentation will present an integrated overview of research that has examined disability and maternity care, with a particular focus on disability identification processes and clinician experiences across the perinatal continuum. Drawing on findings from PhD research on disability identification in maternity services, alongside a more recent evaluation study, this presentation will explore how current systems recognise (or fail to recognise) disability, and the implications this has for care planning, communication, safety, and equity.

This presentation explores the principles and practice of culturally safe maternity care within the Australian context, led by Stacey Butcher, a proud Dunghutti descendant with strong ties to Gomeroi country, nurse and midwife with lived experience and professional expertise. Despite ongoing reforms, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and families continue to experience inequitable maternal and perinatal outcomes, often shaped by systemic racism, cultural misunderstanding, and a lack of culturally safe care environments. Drawing on Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing, this session will examine what cultural safety truly means in maternity care—not as a checklist, but as an ongoing, reflective practice grounded in respect, self-awareness, and power-sharing. Participants will be guided through the historical and contemporary impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal maternal health, the role of trust and relationships, and the importance of embedding cultural safety across all stages of pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period. The webinar will also highlight the critical role of Aboriginal nurses, midwives, and health workers in delivering culturally safe care, as well as practical strategies for non-Aboriginal practitioners to strengthen their practice, challenge bias, and support culturally responsive models of care. 

Social media now plays a major role in how many people learn about and imagine pregnancy and birth. This presentation explores the ways influencers and content creators share stories, advice, and curated glimpses into their own experiences, and how this material might shape consumers’ expectations across the childbearing continuum. It considers the blend of personal narrative, commercial interests, and algorithmic visibility that makes certain messages more prominent than others. The session also looks at how these online influences can affect decision making, ideas about risk, and perceptions of maternity care. By taking a closer look at the digital spaces where so many people gather information, the presentation encourages maternity care professionals to think about how social media is contributing to contemporary understandings of pregnancy and birth.

Has your client ever been told that their baby is getting too big at the end of pregnancy? This class will answer all your questions: Are big babies at higher risk for complications such as shoulder dystocia? Can we accurately tell if a client is going to have a big baby? What is the evidence on induction for suspected big babies?

After this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the pattern of routine care for suspected big babies
2. Discuss whether big babies are more likely to have shoulder dystocia and other health problems, and whether ultrasound is an accurate predictor of weight
3. Describe the evidence on induction and elective Cesarean for suspected big babies, including information from the newly published “Big Baby Trial”

Social support is a powerful, evidence‑based determinant of positive outcomes. Global strategies, including the UN Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030), emphasise not only survival but the need for women and newborns to thrive. Research consistently shows that what matters to women during pregnancy, labour and early motherhood extends beyond clinical safety to encompass emotional wellbeing, autonomy, and culturally grounded expectations of care. Midwifery models that integrate social, emotional, informational, and companionship support align closely with these priorities. Salutogenic perspectives highlight how midwives enhance women’s sense of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness through predictable relationships, personalised care, and strengthened internal and external resources. Observational and trial evidence demonstrates that midwifery‑led continuity of care—particularly when embedded in supportive relational practice—reduces adverse outcomes, improves maternal and neonatal health, and enhances long‑term wellbeing. Social support itself is independently associated with improved fetal growth, mitigates effects of adverse childhood experiences, and improves broader indicators of human thriving. Biological pathways, including reduced inflammatory responses to social stress, offer plausible mechanisms for these effects. Classic trials such as Oakley et al. (1990, 2007) show that structured midwife‑provided social support improves birth outcomes and confers benefits extending into childhood. Despite strong policy endorsement, relational midwifery practices face erosion in many high‑income settings, creating negative feedback loops in safety and experience. Yet successful models—such as the HAAMLA team in Leeds, UK—demonstrate that trust‑based, adaptive, continuity‑focused midwifery remains achievable and impactful. This presentation argues that enabling midwives to provide relationship‑centred, socially supportive care is essential for optimising outcomes for all women and families. Re‑embedding social support within maternity systems is not an optional enhancement but a core component of safe, effective, and equitable care.

Climate change is increasingly recognised as a major determinant of health, yet maternity care is rarely seen as a site for climate action. This presentation investigates psychophysiological birth: birth supported by optimal hormonal physiology, relational care, and minimal intervention as a meaningful yet under-recognised climate response. Drawing on emerging evidence from neuroscience, polyvagal theory, midwifery, public health, and sustainability, the session considers how practices that protect the neurohormonal physiology of labour and birth can simultaneously improve maternal–infant outcomes and reduce the environmental impact of maternity services. By rethinking birth not only as a personal and clinical event but also as an ecological one, this presentation encourages participants to explore how relational, continuity-based, and low-intervention models of care contribute to both human and planetary wellbeing. Attendees will be prompted to reflect on how everyday clinical, educational, and policy decisions in maternity care can serve as acts of climate action.

Maternal health inequalities for women of colour are a persistent global concern, reflected starkly within the UK. Despite universal healthcare, Black women in the UK are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as White women and Asian women are around 1.3 times more likely to die during or shortly after childbirth.  Severe maternal morbidity and mortality disparities are further compounded by social determinants such as deprivation, with women in the most deprived areas facing nearly double the risk of death compared with those in the least deprived. These inequities are shaped by structural and interpersonal racism, implicit bias, fragmented care, language and communication barriers and inconsistent access to culturally safe maternity services. Current models of care often fail to accommodate the lived experiences and needs of women of colour, reinforcing poor outcomes. Evidence suggests that continuity of midwifery carer, culturally responsive community-based models, trauma-informed and anti-racist practice and reliable interpreter use can improve outcomes and reduce disparities. Clinicians and systems must also address workforce diversity, embed cultural safety as a measurable standard and prioritise equity-focused service redesign. Equity in midwifery care is not an addition, it is appropriate-effective care and central to closing gaps in maternal outcomes not only within the UK but on a global level.

This presentation reports findings from the Birth Experience Study (BESt), a national analysis of Australian women’s experiences of postnatal debriefing. Of the 2,158 women who commented on “talking to someone after birth,” most described debriefing as helpful, highlighting benefits such as gaining clarity, processing emotions, and feeling heard—particularly when supported through continuity of care. Unhelpful experiences involved feeling dismissed, judged, or left with unanswered questions. Women also expressed diverse preferences for the timing of debriefing, underscoring the need for flexible, trauma‑aware, woman‑centred approaches. These findings provide consumer‑driven guidance for improving the design and delivery of postnatal debriefing in maternity care.

Birth trauma extends far beyond adverse events during labor. This presentation offers an expanded framework for understanding how trauma lives in the body, nervous system, and relationships throughout the perinatal period. Bernadette will explore how to read multiple somatic barometers - including breathing patterns, jaw tension, voice quality, eye contact, movement, and pelvic floor/core function - as indicators of nervous system state. This presentation will examine how both acute trauma (medical emergencies, interventions) and relational trauma (including intergenerational patterns) surface during the vulnerability of pregnancy, labour, birth, and postpartum, and how unresolved trauma in both birthing people and care providers shapes outcomes. Participants will learn to recognise how previous trauma awakens during birth, identify their own triggers and relational patterns that arise in care provision, and discover practical, relationship-based interventions that facilitate healing in real-time. Understanding our profound power as care providers to either perpetuate or heal trauma opens pathways for more embodied, responsive care.

Maternal movement is a core component of physiological labour, yet within the majority of contemporary maternity settings, it has become constrained by routine practices, technological dominance, and institutional cultures shaped by fear and risk management. This session explores how restricting movement during labour affects biomechanics, foetal adaptation, maternal experience, and professional decision-making. Using a human rights lens alongside current evidence and midwifery knowledge, the presentation examines how birth environments, analgesia practices, and monitoring protocols can unintentionally disempower women and disrupt normal birth physiology. Healthcare professionals are invited to critically reflect on their own practice, confidence, and assumptions, and to consider how movement can be reclaimed as an essential element of respectful, woman-centred maternity care.

This presentation explores the 'four support pillars' of neurodivergent birth, which include sensory processing, communication, executive functioning and mental health. These areas of support need are currently poorly understood within maternity and perinatal healthcare. Evidence is increasingly showing us that neurodivergent people often feel unsupported and are at a higher risk of experiencing adverse outcomes than the general population, including birth trauma, and perinatal anxiety and depression. This presentation aims to promote awareness, understanding and ultimately improve the support provided to neurodivergent women and birthing people perinatally.