Report into hospital's history finds Aboriginal women forced to give birth on verandah

An Aboriginal engagement report has revealed the dark history of a colonial-era hospital where First Nations women were "made to give birth on the verandah".

The report into David Berry Hospital on the New South Wales South Coast comes as the state government considers the future for the site, which operates as a palliative care unit.

Submissions from 17 Aboriginal organisations detailed the "discriminatory and traumatic" conditions First Nations women endured at the hospital during its 117-year history.

Drawing from more than 90 interviews with Aboriginal community members, the report included examples of mothers "labouring in the cold" after being denied indoor care.

It also found "consistent accounts" of the hospital separating Aboriginal mothers from their children, who were sent to nearby institutions days after being born.

Cleon Wellington, chief executive leader of the Aboriginal women's health service Waminda, said her service often encountered people with historical trauma from the hospital.

"They spoke about the treatment that actually happened in that space," she said.

"When they've birthed babies who were born asleep but not knowing what happened to them because they were taken away and they weren't able to bury them.

"I think it's quite evident that it isn't spoken of enough and it isn't recognised enough."

'Associated with death'

The hospital was established in 1909 with money bequeathed by landowner David Berry, displacing the local Jerringa traditional owners.

While initially intended to improve maternity services for women in the area, the report found Aboriginal mothers were denied access to the hospital.

An analysis of the feedback found 28 per cent of community members interviewed had reported deep trauma and fear associated with the site due to historical injustices.

"[It was] a place associated with death, where 'you go and don't come home'," the report found.

But Ms Wellington said the hospital also held a deep spiritual significance due to the many First Nations elders who had "lived, worked, suffered and survived" on the site.

"David Berry Hospital is a birthing place of our people, that's got to be respected,"

she said.

"To have this opportunity where we can go back and connect and heal … this is the moment where this can happen."

New future

NSW Health, which commissioned the report, is now considering its seven recommendations.

They include commissioning a cultural heritage investigation to identify the remains of Aboriginal people buried on the grounds, a "deep cultural cleansing" of the site and establishing an Aboriginal governance body.

Yuin elder Uncle Gerry Moore was born at David Berry Hospital along with many of his siblings, some of whom returned for palliative care services in recent years.

"Two of my brothers went back there to die," he said.

"It was an end-of-life experience, as well as being born there."

The hospital's palliative care services will be transferred to Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital within the next year.

Mr Moore said he hoped the site could be refurbished for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

"I see it not just as a place of healing, it could possibly have a really good purpose in being a truth-telling facility, a history-teaching facility," he said.

"A place where people could come back to where they were born and actually see where their life started."

Kiama MP Katelin McInerney said an aged care service and clinic for people experiencing post-traumatic stress were some of the options being considered for the hospital.

"We do need to reconcile this very, very painful part of Aboriginal history on the site,"