Reaching for Health: The Australian women’s health movement and public policy

Abstract

There are many people to thank for their assistance, support and encouragement during the production of this book-so many that I am afraid some will be overlooked. First and foremost, I thank the scores of women in the Australian women's health movement and in political parties, trade unions and bureaucracies who so generously gave their time to talk with me, formally and informally. Those interviewed are listed in Appendix 2. Women supported my research in many other ways as well. They provided me with contacts, made appointments for me with key policymakers and activists in their regions, gathered local women together to facilitate group discussion and, in some cases, even offered me a bed for the night. As well as agreeing to be interviewed, women gave me access to written materials and pointed me in the direction of relevant sources. Many have been willing to talk to me on the telephone, and answer followup questions sent by email. These women include

New Perspective on Why Women Live Longer Than Men: An Exploration of Power, Gender, Social Determinants, and Capitals

“…Australia has a universal publicly financed health care system. A women’s health movement has been successfully advocating for better access to services for women for thirty years [ 60 ]. They have access to abortion, and (albeit with some restrictions) and high quality maternal and postnatal care has been available for a long time.…”

“…Trade union membership in Australia has declined from 1992 to August 2016, from 40 to 15% but slightly more women are now in trade unions than men (16% compared to 13%), meaning women are slightly more likely to benefit from the social capital stemming from union membership [ 102 ]. From the 1960s, there has also been a strong women’s movement in Australia, which has built social capital among women and advocated for women’s rights [ 60 , 103 ].…”

Mothering Rodney in 1971: An Autoethnography of the Life and Death of My Baby Born With Severe Congenital Heart Defects

“…Under the influence of feminism and the Women’s Health Movement, the culture of childbirth and motherhood has undergone massive change in Australia and elsewhere since the mid-1970s (Jamieson, 2012). The prior wisdom of shielding mothers by removing stillborn or damaged babies at birth, preventing them from seeing or holding their newborn has been challenged.…”