BTA founder Maureen Treadwell recognised in birthday honours
The Birth Trauma Association is thrilled to announce that our founder, Maureen Treadwell, has been appointed MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Maureen began campaigning to improve maternity care in 1983, after the traumatic birth of her first child. After an interview with her appeared in the Guardian, she was inundated with letters from other women sharing their experiences of traumatic birth and unsafe maternity care. For 40 years she has worked tirelessly and selflessly both to make maternity care safer for women and babies, and to support women and partners psychologically affected by traumatic birth.
In 2004, Maureen co-founded the Birth Trauma Association, and in 2007, it became a charity. The BTA was the first organisation in the world to support women who experienced PTSD or other symptoms of psychological distress as the result of traumatic birth.
PTSD had only been accepted as a diagnostic category in 1980, and at the time Maureen co-founded the BTA, there was a great deal of resistance amongst health professionals to the idea that women could be traumatised by birth. Yet 20 years later, it is recognised that 4-5% of women develop PTSD after birth, and the term “birth trauma” is recognised both by maternity professionals and the wider public.
A few years ago, England became the first country to set up maternal mental health teams dedicated to supporting women with birth trauma and baby loss. It is, in large part, the groundwork laid by Maureen’s campaigning that made this possible.
Maureen has always been extremely modest about her achievements, so we are delighted that her dedication, hard work and untiring support for traumatised women has finally received the recognition it deserves.
The picture shows Maureen (centre) at the BTA’s 20th birthday party in 2024.
