Reflections, where I want to go and how I got to here...

My greatest passion has always been pregnancy and birth. I remember from the youngest age wanting to be a Mum and used to play dress up games and would appoint myself the 'pregnant Mummy'. The dream came true with the birth of my first daughter, Grace. I had preconceived ideas about how perfect her birth would be, fortunately for me, despite induction due to pre-eclampsia, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience, but I soon came to realise that not all women have the experience that I was lucky enough to have.

With my 2nd pregnancy I was fortunate to meet a wonderful midwife and doula who compounded my passion for birth and helped me achieve my ultimate goal of ecstatic birth and on a windy night in November, Eva was birthed in the shower into my waiting hands. Her birth was a very positive experience albeit in a hospital setting and I was resolute that my next birth would be a home birth. Through this experience I came to understand the importance of one on one midwifery care and the role of the Doula. I decided that being a birth worker was the life path I wanted to take, so embarked on my Doula training through Optimum Birth. With this completed I worked with an Independent Midwife as a home birth support person and was given the gift of supporting other women achieve their own ecstatic birth.

In October 2006 my husband Paul and I were surprised and overjoyed to discover that I was pregnant with twins and in December of that year moved to Townsville. This elation soon soured when I realised that there were few birthing choices in Townsville and even fewer choices for women pregnant with twins. I was ‘booked’ into the high risk clinic and endured hours of waiting in a crowded public clinic waiting to see an Obstetrician. Throughout my pregnancy I saw seven different practitioners and it wasn’t until I was told about the Community Midwife Practitioner that I had a regular care provider. Fortunately, through my training as a Doula, I was able to discover my voice and advocate for myself at my birth. In June 2007 my twins Joseph and Elizabeth were birthed spontaneously, vaginally and drug free in spite of being pushed towards management, epidural and intervention.

Through these experiences I grew to know that I wanted more. Women everywhere were being let down by the ‘system’ and I wanted to give more to the women I supported. This ‘want’, coupled with my own experiences led me to my decision to become a Midwife. In 2007 I started working towards a Bachelor of Nursing through UniSA and in 2009 gained a high GPA and was accepted into the university’s Bachelor of Midwifery program which I will complete in 2011. This year I have been accepted as the first undergraduate Student in Midwifery at the Townsville Hospital and will be working as a student midwife alongside postgraduate students and midwives. After successful completion of my degree in 2011, I hope to be accepted into a Master of Midwifery program at Newcastle University and complete my grad year in South Australia.

It is my goal to be an advocate for women, their families and their birthing rights by working in a one on one midwifery care model and support women to help them achieve their own ideal birth.