An ultrasound of the scrotum attracts a higher government rebate than an ultrasound of a breast. It's just one example of the Gender Medicare Gap, writes Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Dr Kara Thompson.

We must move from a system that ignores and dismisses women’s injuries to a system that treats birth injuries with as much respect, care and urgency as an injury sustained on a sports field. And, just as urgently, we need social change. Birth injuries must take up space in the national dialogue. We need to lift the shroud of shame and stigma and reveal the hidden burden of women’s birth injuries that have been ignored for too long

Fear-mongering with misleading statistics does not support the goal of empowering women to make decisions

We must understand and respect the different values and preferences that each birthing person brings to their experience. We must acknowledge the incredibly low overall rates of fetal and neonatal death in this country, as well as the improvement that we have seen in the rates of late stillbirth and neonatal death over the last two decades. We must do all this whilst all asking ourselves; How can we do better?

As in all scientific research, the information that we find will only relate to the questions that we ask, and to the concerns that we take seriously.

We must acknowledge this important lesson and ensure that the effects of any medication or medical interventions on women’s health and menstruation are not merely an afterthought in future research