27/05/2026
Why do I care so deeply about birth politics and the future of midwifery. Because I have lived it.
As a woman.
As a mother.
As a midwife.
Over the years I have watched waves of policies, restrictions, and barriers threaten women’s choices around birth and the longevity of privately practising midwives. I have also witnessed the profound power of what happens when women are truly supported.
I trained in midwifery in Alice Springs, Northern Territory in 1998 to 1999 in a deeply experiential model of learning. I lived and breathed midwifery alongside experienced registered midwives. I learnt through immersion, continuity, mentorship, observation, responsibility, and relationship.
That training shaped my midwifery career.
It infused the art, soul, and rhythm of midwifery into my bones.
I trained in nursing through university and experienced a very different style of education - one that confirmed for me just how important experiential, apprenticeship style learning is within midwifery and health care.
This is one of the reasons I care deeply about protecting pathways and options for midwives, mentorship, and midwifery continuity models of care.
Because midwifery is not simply learnt from textbooks.
It is witnessed.
Absorbed.
Refined over years.
Passed from one midwife to another while caring for women together.
I have stood in advocacy spaces many times over the years because I believe women deserve access to safe, relational, respectful birth care.
I drove from the Blue Mountains to Canberra for the Mother of All Rallies with my own homebirthed baby.
I contributed to the Birth Trauma Inquiry as both a woman, and a midwife.
And now, I will have my say and speak up.
Birth is not fringe.
Birth is not niche.
Birth shapes women, babies, families, and communities.
And the quality of birth matters.
I invite you to pay attention to current birth politics. I’ll be sharing more over the coming weeks about the current NMBA consultation process and why so many midwives, mothers, and advocacy groups are concerned about the future of homebirth access in Australia.
Birth is political.
