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Each time Emma Ardler has given birth in hospital it has been with a midwife she has never met before. This is despite having a trusted midwife she spent months forging a connection with. "I have gone through two pregnancies where I have had to retell my story again and again," Ms Ardler said. "I felt scared, isolated, left in the dark." Emma Ardler says Waminda's Birthing on Country gives her a feeling of safety and pride.(Supplied: Waminda) The soon-to-be mother-of-three chooses privately employed midwives from local Aboriginal women's health organisation Waminda to support her culturally as a First Nations woman. Up until this week, Ms Ardler's privately employed midwives have been restricted and only able to provide pre and post-natal care due to being employed outside the hospital. Now, weeks away from giving birth to her third child, the Wreck Bay woman from Yuin Country on NSW's South Coast will become one of the first in the country to have her culturally safe midwife birth her baby in Shoalhaven Hospital. "It means bridging gaps, it means being supported, it means having my spiritual needs met," Ms Ardler said. Emma Ardler is one of the first women to receive the landmark model of care. (ABC Illawarra: Romy Gilbert) Her midwife and Tasmanian Palawa woman, Tahlia Avolio, will become one of the nation's first privately employed endorsed midwives to provide the service, ensuring continuity of care for women throughout pregnancy. "It's going to change everything," Ms Avolio said. Waminda is the country's first Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation to enact the model of care grounded in culture aimed at improving health outcomes. Its endorsed midwives are expected to help deliver about 90 First Nations babies this year through the program at Shoalhaven Hospital. Waminda executives Lisa Wellington, Cleone Wellington, Kristine Falzon, and Hayley Longbottom.(ABC Illawarra: Romy Gilbert) Waminda executive and Jerrinja Cullunghutti Wandandian woman Hayley Longbottom said it would allow First Nations women to reclaim their birthing rights. "This is why we do what we do. Nothing is more important than our women birthing in a safe, self-determined space," Ms Longbottom said. "This is the resistance and this is the fight." A 2020 Closing the Gap report revealed that First Nations babies were nearly twice as likely to be born too soon, and to die during pregnancy, soon after birth or in their first year of life. Around 49 per cent of child deaths are due to perinatal trauma, including complications of pregnancy derived from the impacts of colonisation. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, First Nations women are three to five times more likely than non-Indigenous women to die in childbirth. Waminda's Birthing on Country aims to give power to community to change those figures. "It's really important that we're able to do what we know is right for our people," Ms Longbottom said. Waminda began lobbying for Birthing on Country eight years ago. An access agreement between Waminda and the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) has been signed to allow Waminda endorsed midwives "visiting rights" to Shoalhaven Hospital to birth babies. ISLHD maternity manager Angela Jones said it had never been done before and should fix what she described as a "broken pathway". "The women had antenatal and post care with Waminda but that is where that continuity stopped," she said. Waminda executive Melanie Briggs with ISLHD maternity services leader Angela Jones.(ABC Illawarra: Romy Gilbert) "This is the first model of its kind in Australia, and I suppose this now will be a seamless flow." Ms Jones said having one consistent, trusted midwife throughout the entire journey was the "gold standard of care". "You have reduced interventions, better outcomes for women, improvements in birth weights, improvements in breastfeeding and psychosocial wellbeing," she said. The landmark service is provided for First Nations babies, including those of non-Aboriginal mothers. Dharawal and Gumbaynggirr woman Melanie Briggs is Waminda's senior endorsed midwife and the first Aboriginal endorsed midwife in NSW. First Nations women want birthing sovereignty to ensure the best start for their babies.(Supplied: Waminda) She said the service has had to navigate many barriers, including insurance and institutional racism. "We've had to work with the government to try and formulate intrapartum insurance for the midwives that are employed here and it's very expensive," Ms Briggs said. She said Waminda "headbutted" a lot of racism along the way, but what Birthing on Country had achieved would make maternity safer for all women. "This will change the way our women and our babies are treated," Ms Briggs said. "And what works for our women will work for everybody." The midwifery program is part of a larger plan to build a birthing centre next year to enable First Nations women to birth away from hospital settings and allow ceremony back into the practice. Ms Briggs expects the first sod to be turned at the South Nowra site early next year. "We've designed it … the DA [development application] will go to council this month." Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Thursday Posted 6 May 20246 May 2024Mon 6 May 2024 at 2:05am, updated 6 May 20246 May 2024Mon 6 May 2024 at 3:00am'This is the resistance'
Partnership with hospital
Overcoming barriers