"Feeling known, held and safe through AMGP"

This was my second pregnancy and birth supported through the Aboriginal Midwifery Group Practice (AMGP), and after experiencing this model of care twice, it is difficult to put into words just how much it has meant to me and my family.

As a proud Ngemba woman, with my people connected to the Gundabooka Mountains in NSW, being able to access a culturally supportive model of maternity care through AMGP has been particularly meaningful. There is something incredibly special about being cared for by a team who don’t simply know your medical history, but genuinely know you, your family and your story.

Throughout my pregnancy I felt listened to, supported and understood. My midwives knew my previous birth history and what was important to me. Because my first labour progressed quickly, they prepared us for the possibility that my second baby could arrive even faster. As it turned out, that preparation was invaluable.

At around 2am on 24 August, I woke and within minutes my waters broke. I knew immediately our baby was coming. My contractions quickly became strong and close together.

One of the hardest parts was leaving our little girl for the first time. She woke while I was labouring and I explained that Mummy and Daddy needed to go to hospital because her baby brother was coming. Before I left she told me, “I love you. Be brave.” Those words stayed with me.

We arrived at King Edward Memorial Hospital at approximately 4:22am. Members of the AMGP team were already waiting at the entrance with a wheelchair.

I was deep in labour and everything was happening incredibly quickly. One of the midwives looked at me and said, “You are safe. We’ve got you.”

I will never forget those words.

They were exactly what I needed in that moment. I didn’t need to think anymore. I knew I was safe, my baby was safe and I could surrender to what my body was doing because the people around me knew me, knew my history and were ready for us.

I was taken straight into the birth suite and our beautiful baby boy was born at 4:45am just over 20 minutes after arriving and after only a few pushes. He weighed 4,265g and was 53cm long. From my waters breaking to holding him in my arms was just over two and a half hours.

Despite how quickly everything happened, I never felt alone or unsupported. I trusted the women around me completely. To me, that says so much about the relationship and sense of safety AMGP had built with me long before I stepped into that birth suite.

My birth did have an unexpected complication. I sustained a 3C perineal tear and, after our golden hour and first feed, needed to go to theatre for repair.

Being separated from my newborn and husband for a few hours was emotional, particularly while thinking about my little girl at home. However, the care I received was exceptional. The doctor repairing my tear took an incredible amount of time and care and made sure everything was repaired properly for my recovery.

When I returned to the ward around three hours later, my baby had slept peacefully in his dad’s arms. Seeing them together brought every emotion to the surface…relief, exhaustion, gratitude, happiness and overwhelming love.

Even with the significant tear and recovery that has followed, I look back on my son’s birth positively. It was fast, powerful and very much on his own terms. I wouldn’t change the way he entered the world, and I will forever be grateful I had a team around me whom I trusted so completely.

But AMGP was about so much more than those few hours of labour and birth.

It was the appointments, conversations and laughs. Being able to talk through my fears. Being remembered rather than continually explaining my history. It was seeing familiar faces and knowing the people who might be beside me during one of the most vulnerable moments of my life already understood me.

It was also how my family was included. My little girl came on this journey with us and was always spoken to, included and made to feel important as she prepared to become a big sister. Those seemingly small things meant an enormous amount.

Having experienced AMGP through both of my pregnancies and births, I feel incredibly fortunate. Continuity of midwifery care is difficult to describe until you experience what it feels like to be truly known by the people caring for you.

As an Aboriginal woman, I don’t underestimate the importance of maternity care where cultural safety, connection and family are embedded within the model. I never felt that my care was simply something happening to me. I felt like an active and respected part of it.

Childbirth is vulnerable and unpredictable. You can prepare, but you never truly know how your baby will enter the world. Going into that unknown genuinely feeling held by the people caring for me made an enormous difference.

My two births were different, but the feeling AMGP gave me was the same:

I was known. I was listened to. I was supported. I was safe.

AMGP doesn’t simply provide maternity care. It builds relationships, confidence and trust with women and their families.

As a Ngemba woman and a mother privileged to have been cared for by AMGP twice, I hope programs like this continue to be recognised for just how valuable they are to Aboriginal women and their families.

Our family will be forever grateful for this extraordinary program and the people who make it what it is.