Yet another book event in regional Victoria.

Down the road to The Birth House

The birth house is another example of inspiring, courageous midwifery innovation. As well as the group of midwives offering midwifery care, the birth house offers complimentary health care, birth and parenting education and … they also have a birth retreat catering for ‘home away from home’ births!

The birth house itself has been open two years now and the birth retreat opened for births March 2013. Since then they’ve had 10 babies born there, with more booked.

Similar to MAMA and the My Midwives centres, the birth house is a thriving community ‘hub’ for all things pregnancy, birth, early parenting related with a strong women/family focus. Again, honour to all those involved, especially midwife Judy van Dreven who materialised the vision.

My book event on a Saturday night had a party feel. Good food, company, plenty of juicy birth chat—fully oxytocinized!

Thank you Melissa, Sheree and birth house team x

Thank you Melissa, Sheree and birth house team x

Then another visit to regional Victoria. I am a trainer for CAPEA – Childbirth and Parenting Educators of Australia and was in Colac with others running a childbirth educator’s training course for midwives at Colac hospital. A book event was added.

Lots of birth chat hearing about the difficulties in regional areas but also hearing many positives; like water births happening at Colac hospital and a sort of default ‘continuity of care’ situation. Many of the midwives practice across the full spectrum of their expertise, in pregnancy clinic, labour and postnatal wards as a matter of course and often know the women in the community anyway – great!

Thank you to my CAPEA colleagues, Melinda Eales and Janice De Campo for organizing the venue, food, etc., etc. xx

PS: If any of you have experienced the magic of the midwifery technique ‘sterile water injections’ during a gruelling backache labour, then you too will want to thank Janice. Janice introduced the technique to Victorian midwives some years ago after being introduced to it in Sweden by the midwife who attended her daughter during the homebirth of her first grandchild. Yay to sharing midwifery wisdom!

Here’s Janice with her latest grandchild.

For a number of reasons I was very happy to head up to Shepparton for a book event. I’m originally a Mooroopna girl, so firstly I wanted to see what was happening in the birth scene in Shepp.

Then I particularly wanted to visit Independent Midwife Andrea Quanchi’s centre. She is another of those courageous midwives setting up midwifery clinics – a My Midwives centre at the Dutch House in Wyndham St. Shepparton. (Contact: shepparton@mymidwives.com.au)

Here again, Andrea and her team, like the MAMA team, offer continuity of care through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. There are a number of My Midwives branches in Victoria and Queensland, however they are expanding so no doubt others will emerge. Bring it on!

I met some of the local doulas and a number of the Midwives from the Midwifery Group Practice at the GV hospital came along … recipe for some great birth chat.

The number of Midwifery group practices providing continuity of care in hospital settings is increasing … another heartening trend.

Finally I was happy to go to Shepparton for a book event cause it meant my Mum and Dad could come along and get a taste of what I have been going on about all these years – precious!

Thank you Andrea x

Regional Victoria has a number of pockets of birth passionistas Ballarat has one of them.

Ballarat Maternity Coalition has been active over many years informing and supporting women with their birth choices, with committed input from some key women, in particular, midwife Margaret McGuire who organized this book event.

Thank you Margaret and Maternity Coalition team. x

Such a treat to have a book event at MAMA Kensington.

Midwifery clinics such as MAMA set up in the community as primary care centres for pregnant and birthing women, bit similar to GP clinics only much better!! are the way of the future—sooooo so encouraging for birth passionistas and aging birth activists. All honour to the pioneering courageous midwives, in MAMA’s case Jan and Kelly, across Australia who are making this difference. MAMA has since opened other branches.

Jan’s words of introduction, spoken by Kelly, as Jan was at a birth (of course!) captures the feelings of frustration that underpin the urgency that drives my work and my book and that has provided the catalyst for clinics like MAMA … cause we know there is a better way!

Jan’s words:

I’m not going to talk about the good old days

Were they good old days?

I’m not sure

I think little has changed in behaviours of institutions, educators and practitioners, but over the years there have always been champions.

Rhea is a champion

Thank you

I say in response, that yes, there have always been champions—birth activists and practitioners—such as Jan, Kelly and all the other midwives now pioneering a way forward.

Thank you Jan, Kelly and the MAMA team x

Two sessions at Fertile Ground sharing with complimentary therapists, pregnant women, couples.

It’s particularly satisfying to speak with complementary therapists. They’re often bemused by what they see happening with their pregnant and birthing clients. So it’s important for them to understand what is happening in the birth culture that hijacks the straight-forward birth experiences their clients (generally healthy, committed, low-risk ‘willing’ women) expect and plan for, but that sadly so often end up in a cascade of interventions.

My book lays all that out and seems to give them the ‘ah ha’ awareness that they can share with their clients. Yay!

Thank you Charmaine and Milly for this support of my book and so much more x

What a great night – catching up with old friends, new friends, couples with their grown up babies who’s births I’d attended, colleagues, midwives, student midwives, birth attendants, childbirth educator’s, academics—birth passionistas all—and of course my family.

The launch was held at ‘The White House’ in St Kilda – home of ‘Dumbo Feather’ magazine which coincidentally was running an interview with me at the time – very handy!

There were speeches, of course.

Leigh Russell, an inspiring woman, one of the new wave of passionate birth activists, was the perfect MC for the evening.

Colleague Kerreen Reiger, sociologist, academic, author, founding member Maternity Coalition and so much more, launched my book by first making sense of the current political, structural, social context of birth and the place of my book within that context. (There will be a video of Kerreen’s speech up on my soon to be launched YouTube channel – if you are interested in the social context of birth over the last 50 years or so check it out.)

Independent Midwife Alice Barden provided a more personal take on my work. I’ve had the privilege of being with her and her husband for the three home births of their sons, Alice also trained with me before going on to become a midwife.

Organisation, set up, food, flowers, etc., etc., etc. accomplished beautifully by Jo Askham and Sarah Goldburg both experienced birth attendants as well as organisers of the Maternity Coalition film nights.

Have to mention also the ‘crisis of confidence’ cup cakes by Bree and Jules from Mammabake.com.au

While mentioning crises of confidence, my ‘crisis of confidence’ logo designed by graphic designer  Keith Downes is a stylishly crafted version of the scribble I make on the whiteboard whenever I’m presenting my crisis of confidence concept.

Thanks Keith x

Kimba and Ryan offered sweet music that soothed and entertained us.

Those of you aware of the early days of reclaiming home birth here in Melbourne during the 70s will recognize (in the back) lay midwives Jan Deany and Mel Shere. During the 80s, amongst other things, we were part of a group of birth activists who worked (around Mel’s kitchen table) towards setting up a direct entry midwifery course. It didn’t come to pass then, but was a step along the path that has eventually resulted in the Bachelor of Midwifery courses now available.

Finally they let me loose … I, of course, loved speaking about my passion—birth issues—read some sections then thanked a lot of people … thanked all for their contributions to the night, to the book and to my understandings about birth. Especially also thanking the colleagues, friends and my cherished family for creating such a sustained, strong ‘holding circle’ over so long – believing in my book and waiting on its emergence. xxxxxxxx

Lotta oxytocin, lotta love in the room!

Thank you also to Berry and the Dumbo Feather team for the perfect venue x