Midwives

“Choosing a midwife to assist at your home birth is a very important decision.  It is imperative that you have a clear, comfortable connection with him or her and that you feel safe with the choice you have made.  It’s a good idea to speak to the available midwives who can assist you during your pregnancy and birth experience to feel out the one who is right for you…”

Find out what qualifications and/or experience they have and different situations they have dealt with in their experiences.

Currently there are state registered/endorsed midwives and lay midwives legally operating on the homebirth circuit.

Their fees differ so you’ll need to ask them what they charge for their services.

I have included on this site, a list of midwives operating in Northern New South Wales and Queensland with varying qualifications and experience for you to contact.

The term midwife is used in reference to both women and men. Midwives are autonomous practitioners who provide advice, care and support to the physical and emotional needs of expectant mothers and their families during the pre-conceptual, antenatal, intranatal and postnatal periods, in normal low risk pregnancies and births.  They also focus on the psychological aspects of how a mother feels about the pregnancy and birth and can assist in alleviating any fears or concerns that may be present for the expectant mother.

A midwife will encourage participation of family members in the birth to support the mother and enhance both mother/baby bonding and family relationships generally.  She will offer support and advice on the daily care of the baby, including feeding, bathing and sleeping.

She can also offer support and advice following events such as miscarriage, termination, stillbirth, neonatal abnormality and neonatal death;

Midwives offer a ‘woman-centred’ approach allowing the mother freedom of choice in her birth journey, and continuity of care, encouraging the mother to follow her intuition and instincts, and let nature takes it course.

They strive to allow the mother a natural birth experience. While obstetricians are taught to “actively manage” labour, midwives are taught not to intervene unless necessary. Midwives refer to obstetricians when a woman requires care beyond her or his areas of expertise.

A midwife is less likely to use medical technology and intervention such us frequent electronic foetal monitoring, labour inducing drugs, pain medications, epidurals and episiotomies.  They will encourage the birthing woman to try alternative methods of pain relief such as water and physical positioning such as walking, rocking, leaning on a ball or even dancing during labour.

Midwives are trained to recognize and handle complications and abnormalities including breech birth and posterior position, using non-invasive techniques, and if necessary will consult a doctor. They are trained to identify high-risk pregnancies and make referrals to doctors and other medical specialists where necessary.

Certified midwives are trained in basic life support for a newborn and can effectively and competently administer care for a baby until a paediatrician, neonatologist or obstetrician is available, depending on the situation. Midwives are not trained to perform C-sections and some can’t administer drugs or anaesthesia but can suture if required.

In a home birth situation, if a transfer to hospital were required, the midwife would accompany the mother and baby to the hospital and continue supporting the woman from there and beyond, where care extends to up to a month after the baby is born.

Studies show that midwife supervised births of uncomplicated and low risk patients produce happy, healthy outcomes with fewer medical interventions than average.

Most women I’ve spoken to have developed a very strong, emotional bond with their midwife.  They are, after all doing the most important job in the world, assisting you in safely bringing in a new life into the world.