Why should I invest in my maternity care?

Because there’s no practice run.

This is it. The real deal.

This is the time for you to choose a lead maternity carer whose values align with yours. Just because you hire the most experienced maternity carer there is, it doesn’t mean that they are the best at their job or will get you the best outcomes.

Choose someone who believes in more than just getting you a healthy baby - a healthy baby is everyone’s main priority. But choose someone who believes the best outcomes are a healthy baby, a healthy mother and a healthy family unit. These things are just as important.

If you choose a maternity carer whose beliefs about birth don’t align with yours, you may come away from your birth with a healthy baby, but what other (most of the time unnecessary) things did you have to sacrifice along the way? Your dignity? Your values? Your sex life because of an unnecessary episiotomy? Your future childbirth experiences because you’re too traumatised to do it again? Your disbelief in your body’s capabilities? Dissociation from your baby due to all the (often unnecessary) interventions? You do NOT have to sacrifice these things in order to have good outcomes. You are right if you are thinking motherhood is about some sacrifice. There are many things we have to sacrifice as mothers including our bodies because we are growing another human, and of course sleep. These are a given. But not our dignity, values, integrity and bodies to unnecessary intervention.

This is what we consider a good birth outcome - a physically and emotionally healthy mum, baby, and family unit.

Most women walk into the hospital expecting to have a physiological (normal) birth. But our current statistics expose a different reality. Currently, 1 in 3 women experiences a cesarean section and 1 in 4 women walks away with birth trauma.

Modern routine maternity care is fragmented and predominately done within the hospital setting. A majority of hospital staff and hospital policies represent the medical model, focusing more on preventing, diagnosing, and treating complications. Of course, these things are vitally important, but this approach to care fails to see women as individuals with personal ideals and needs and lacks giving women the freedom to form their own risk perceptions.

At I want to hold your hand we provide a holistic approach to midwifery care, supporting your emotional, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs – as well as preventing, diagnosing, and treating complications.

Our primary objective is to walk beside women and support them as they embark on their childbearing and matresence journeys. We are here to educate, empower and provide you with the tools so you can make important decisions about your pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care.

What is a private practice midwife?

To work in private practice a midwife must first become an endorsed midwife. To gain endorsement they must meet certain criteria set by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. The midwife must have extensive experience across the whole continuum of childbirth and have completed further study to gain the endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives. Further legislation requirements are needed for a midwife to provide Medicare-funded care.

These includes:

• Having professional indemnity insurance and

• Having a Collaborative Arrangement with a doctor. This can be a GP for the hospital you are booked for birth.

The midwife is then obliged to use the National Midwifery Guidelines for Consultation and Referral to work in collaboration with other health professionals if complications arise during any stage of the childbearing journey.

How much does midwifery care cost?

For a homebirth - which includes antenatal care, birth care, and postnatal care it will cost you approximately $5500 out-of-pocket. Please ask for a detailed pricing guide.

Where do I birth my baby?

Wherever you choose to birth your baby. This could be at home, hospital or a birth centre.

Will you be my midwife for the birth?

Yes! If you choose to birth your baby at home. If you want birth support in hospital I would be there to support you, and the midwives at the hospital would provide clinical care.

Who orders blood tests and ultrasounds?

We do! As endorsed midwives, we have the capability to order blood tests, ultrasounds and prescribe scheduled medicines. We get the results directly and then send them to the location you plan to birth at with your referral and care plan.

How will the hospital know about me?

We will send your referral and all the relevant information to the place you choose to birth your baby.

Do I need to go to hospital appointments too?

Every hospital will have different recommendations. But please remember, these are just recommendations. You get to choose if you want to go to any appointments at the hospital or not.

How do I book?

It’s simple! Fill out the contact form and we will respond within 48 hours of receiving your email.