Introduction

Women are not choosing birth outside the system because they are spoilt for choice; far from it. They choose to birth outside the system because what we offer is hurting them and we are simply not listening to their concerns. A global network of researchers published a research priorities paper calling for the need to recognise the importance of positive experiences for women during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period alongside the reduction of adverse events. Worldwide, maternal mental health problems are considered one of the most significant public health issues, with several developed nations, including Australia, reporting maternal suicide as the leading single cause of maternal death. Systemic racism is a comfortably settled component of hospital maternity care in every country in which dominant ethnic groups have learnt to apply skin colour, or external physical characteristics, as a defining criteria for exclusion, domination and/or dehumanisation. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.