The Rural Births Podcast

Rhiannon Finger is a mum of four. She lives on a cattle property in Clermont, Central Queensland.

Rhiannon’s birth expectations changed rapidly in her first pregnancy when she unexpectedly went in to labour at 24 weeks. She shares how she moved through different providers, quickly realising that this was labour and that transfer was necessary. Being in Central Queensland, she required remote transfer and was flown to an out of area, high risk unit with NICU support for an emergency caesarean. Her son was born. He stayed in hospital for 99 days, in the care of the NICU nursing team. Fortunately, Rhiannon had family in Townsville and so she was able to stay close by and be supported by her grandmother and uncle.

This experience impacted both Rhiannon and her partner. In this interview she shares how they were supported through the feelings and traumas surrounding birth, into the pregnancy and birth of her second child. She also found a trusted high risk specialist in Townsville, who she worked with (travelling 600 kms) for all her subsequent pregnancies. Rhiannon shares how she was medically (cervical suture and planned caesareans) and emotionally supported through re-entering the birth sphere.

Rhiannon shares deeply and personally. I am so grateful to her, in sharing her story she has opened up pathways to understanding an integral rural and remote ‘what if’ question. Rhiannon is resilient and strong, moving through difficult experiences and into the challenges of motherhood. She highlights the incredible support of extended family networks, as we can call on loved ones from far away and rely on family back home too.

Rebecca Barry is a mum of two. She lives on a property in South Australia, close to the Victorian boarder.
Rebecca’s journey towards her first birth changed trajectory when she received high blood pressure results and was diagnosed with preeclampsia. She had to shift her plan and go into hospital earlier than expected. She underwent additional monitoring and had an extended prenatal hospital stay. She had to change hospitals, moving from her private unit and the care of her private obstetrician to a different hospital. Her known care providers were not able to transfer with her and so early in her third trimester, Rebecca was traversing an unknown care environment and needed to remain in hospital until she birthed. This was tumultuous, as she would receive varied blood pressure results and sometimes be rushed into Delivery Ward Birth Suite/ICU where then her blood pressure would stabilise. This would happen every time she had a high blood pressure reading, as they were thinking they would have to do an emergency delivery.

Her partner was darting back and fourth to be a support to her and present for bubs imminent arrival, whilst still managing life on the land. Her eldest was born prematurely via caesarean section and required some additional support after he was born.
During her second pregnancy, Rebecca developed a strong relationship with a trusted obstetrician who worked with the high risk unit. This gave her increased confidence and she felt well supported as she planned a VBAC. Rebecca’s VBAC didn’t go to plan and after labouring and trying different augmentations, her daughter was born via caesarean. Her daughter also had a stay in the nursery care unit due to infection.
Rebecca demonstrates resilience and strength as she shares what it is like to traverse unexpected pathways and birth far from home. Each stage of motherhood can present challenges and Rebecca shares openly about how she moved through the early birth and nursery stays through support and her own strength.

Rhia lives in rural Victoria. She is partner and wife to Claire from ‘Your Birth Midwifery’ who was interviewed in episode 17 of the podcast. In this episode Rhia shares their journey to conception, navigating sperm donation and working with fertility support.
Rhia shares the emotional toll of trying to conceive and how friends and family can best support people working through conception difficulties by keeping the faith. She shares that the best thing was her mum always staying strong for her and that this active support helped to sustain her confidence in herself and her body.
Rhia steps us through her prenatal and birth preparation care and I found her story inspiring as we should always remember that we can ask and we can say no if a pathway or treatment doesn’t align with our vision, understanding or needs. We are intuitive beings for a reason.
This episode has been split into two parts in order to give space and time to each stage and aspect of Rhia’s story. In this interview she shared so deeply and personally. Thank you to Rhia for opening the pages to her story and for offering insight into what it is like to work through conception difficulties and differences via distance. I look forward to sharing her birth and postpartum stories with you in the following episode next week.
Rhia and Claire are an ace birth team.
I first heard their rural birthing and conception story through @mesmerisedmamas blog post
and have since discovered the amazing offerings they bring to rural Victorian women via their joined force as midwife @yourbirthmidwifery and birth photographer @rhi_mc_photography
You can also connect with Rhia on Facebook at Rhi MC Photography.

Courtney is from Kangaroo Island in South Australia. She lives on a property about 30 minutes from her local hospital. When she fell pregnant she already knew about the great birthing facilities available on Kangaroo Island through her family and so this made her care choices easy.

Courtney had a fairly uneventful pregnancy up until the 2019 fires hit. She was due to give birth that summer and this natural disaster increased her stress levels in this last month of pregnancy. Thanks to the community spirit on the Island, Courtney always felt cared for. A local midwife even made a house visit when Courtney was in town, having evacuated to her sisters. Together they did some checks on Courtney and baby and this community access and support alleviated her stress during evac. Her son Hudson was born 8 days late. Courtney went into natural labour in the middle of the night. Her husband was her birth support person and with the local midwife and obstetrician present Courtney gave birth to her son Hudson in the same room her husband had been born in.

Her post partum was well supported by community health visits; however, when Courtney was ready to venture out - Co-vid19 hit and socialising was not possible. Courtney has had an eventful experience but taken it all in her stride. She shares the power of community and making connections and the support that can be ignited for pregnant and post partum women in rural communities.

Kat lives on her family’s rural property ‘Derry Downs’ in Queensland, with her husband and their daughter Charlotte. Both Kat and her husband work for local area health whilst also managing stock on their land.

The closest town to their property is Roma, which has a birthing facility; however, when Kat first fell pregnant she elected to birth on the Sunshine Coast at Burderim.

Burderim had a home like aesthetic (with a double bed!) and allowed partners to stay too. This appealed to Kat and she really appreciated this continuity of support as her husband was present continuously throughout their hospital stay.

In preparation for birth, Kat read JuJu Sundin’s ‘Birth Skills’ and accessed prenatal yoga classes (after relocating, participating independently and as a couple). This combination of reading, research and practical classes gave Kat strategies she could actively apply during labour and birth.

Kat went into labour, naturally, late at night. She didn’t transfer to hospital until the following morning. After a while her labour had not progressed and she was offered the choice to intervene or pursue c-section. Kat and her husband decided to move to unplanned c-section. She was moved to theatre and it wasn’t long before they discovered they had a daughter.

Kat shares her positive experience with unplanned c-section and how the strategies she’d learnt through her study of ‘Yoga for Birth’ can be used for any birth. Kat has a really positive mindset and calm approach, and as she is expecting her second child, she intends to reactivate her choices and pursue ‘Yoga for Birth’ again because she believes that the best way to approach the uncertainty of birth is through cultivating a sense of calm.

Leah Kershaw lives in the coastal town of Bodalla. She is a mum of four boys and has baby number 5 on the way.

Leah has birthed in Moruya and Queanbeyan hospitals and for her final pregnancy she is planning a home birth, enlisting the services of a known midwife through The Nest of Moruya.

She’d met her partner in Mount Isa, Queensland, but moved home in her first pregnancy to the south coast of NSW in order to be near her mum to birth. Her partner continued to work up north but travelled back down for the birth of their first son. Travel was a factor for Leah’s first three births, but she wasn’t the one travelling the 1000s of kms, instead this trek was her partners as he continued to work flyinflyout in rural Queensland. Women who also have flyinflyout partners will understand the significance of this in early motherhood and so after some discussion and family negotiation Leah and her family relocated. They moved before birth number four, to the Queanbeyan area, as her partner found a local job.

Leah shares her previous positive birthing experiences. Every birth was different. She shares her experience using different birthing positions, of induction, preterm birth (membrane rupture) and water birth. Leah appreciates the care and facilities at both Queanbeyan and Moruya hospital, but also expresses an innate desire within herself to seek something different for her upcoming fifth birth.

Thanks to Instagram, Leah has connected with doulas and embraced this birth as an opportunity to rebirth herself. She has worked directly, over zoom, with birth mentor and doula @ripsnorter to delve inside herself and discover her wants and needs for both her pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Leah shares how she didn’t do this same work prior to her other births and that birth more so ‘happened’ to her. She feels strongly about activating space for herself this time. She knows this commitment to self and deep inner work is  honouring her rite of passage. She is both opening into, and planning to honour and close, this birthing stage of her life (through things like ‘closing the bones’).

Taryn is a mother of three, living in remote Queensland. She has travelled thousands of kms to birth and no one birth was the same. Induction, epidural, venthouse extraction, natural, shoulder dystocia, 4th degree tear, caesarean. 

Taryn fell pregnant whilst living on a remote cattle station in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Living remotely the closest ‘quick access’ medical facility was 65 kms away, in a clinic, in Croydon. Although 65 kms sounds accessible flooding was an issue and it was not a fulltime facility. This facility was fly in, fly out and a doctor was only available once a fortnight. During Taryn’s first pregnancy, on the advice of friends in the medical field, she sought care with a private obstetrician in Brisbane at Mater Mothers. This obstetrician had experience working with rural women and so the advice Taryn received was relevant and showed consideration of her circumstances. For Taryn to reach Brisbane she needed to travel 2500 kms from home. This drive took days, requiring numerous overnight stops, and so Taryn only saw her care providers at the beginning and the end of her pregnancy. It is an official/legislated requirement that remote birthing women relocate prior to birth. They are required to leave home during the ‘possible birthing window’ and so Taryn relocated 6 weeks prior to her due date and began the process of waiting for her scheduled induction. She shares that although the drive was long and hard, being late in her third trimester, that it was not as difficult as the trip home. On the return trip travelling with a newly born infant, who was learning to feed, was difficult. 

After this first, positive birth experience, Taryn felt like a birth expert and so for her second pregnancy she chose to birth closer to home at a small, public hospital. This time Taryn would relocate to her parent’s house, only 1000 kms away in Proserpine. Both her grandfather and her father had been born in this small, rural maternity unit and so going in she felt good about this change of plan. Again, Taryn relocated. Arriving in town 6 weeks prior to her due date allowed Taryn to begin care with her hospital and rather than working with an obstetric specialist in this system she experienced midwife led care. Taryn went into labour naturally. Everything seemed to be going well but when things reached the pointy end and her son was crowning, his head would move in and out. A new doctor diagnosed that her baby was stuck (shoulder dystocia) and with hands on assistance her baby was born, although Taryn sustained a high order injury and needed to be transferred to Mackay. 

Having experienced two very different births, and dealing with some trauma around her second birth, when Taryn found out she was pregnant for a third time she sought an elective caesarean. She found the remote post-partum healing from a caesarean a lot easier than her birth related injury from her son’s birth. 

Every one of Taryn’s birth experiences was different. She is a strong, independent and resilient person who took her remote care circumstances in her stride – but she also shares that having one good friend, who understands and who can listen to/hear you, makes all the difference in remote pregnancy, postpartum and motherhood.

Allie Hill lives on a property about 45 minutes out of St George in rural Queensland with her husband and 18-month-old son. Although she lives a fair way out of town she is not isolated. She has fond friendships with other local mothers, who live on land close to her property, allowing her to connect, feel supported and share her experiences as a mum.

When Allie first became pregnant she booked in to the St George hospital via a GP Shared Care and also joined the Maternity Group Practice (MGP) program. This allowed for Allie to receive in town care and, as she already lived a distance out of town, the midwifery team were really flexible and fit Allie’s appointments in when she was already in town.

The community of St George is incredibly fortunate as there is a local maternity facility that is available for low risk birthing women. Being a long-term member of this rural community meant that Allie’s care providers were known to her, which is a small-town benefit but can also provide some difficulties. It can be difficult when you disagree with your provider as you can all to easily feel as though you might cause offense if you go against recommendations or assert a different perspective.

Allie used the local resources and also travelled long distances for parts of her prenatal care journey. She received acupuncture in Toowoomba (4 hours away) and took part in Hypnobirthing classes online. Allie did feel the absence of additional maternity care resources in her local community but found these resources to be valuable and appreciated the accessibility provided online.

During Allie’s third trimester she had an eventful experience. While she was preparing for her baby shower luncheon she showed signs of preterm labour and so at 33 weeks pregnant Allie was flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Toowoomba for specialist obstetric support. Allie’s suspected preterm labour did not eventuate but it did activate increased intervention as there was a fear that her baby was big. They were concerned that this could cause potential labour complications if she went over her due date. Allie was induced and this was a difficult change of plan which made Allie feel stuck. Her body did not respond well to syntocin and after a number of hours experiencing painful and exhausting contractions, without a break, she went in for an emergency caesarean. This experience was difficult and it was only recently that she debriefed and explored her birth experience with her mum, who works as a midwife and supported Allie’s birth. Allie really values the care available locally but also hopes to have a VBAC for when she does fall pregnant again. Therefore, in the future, Allie will seek private maternity care in Toowoomba, requiring relocation and ‘sitting in’ in the latter half of her third trimester.

Myfanwy Bryant lives in Mudgee in NSW. She grew up between the worlds of regional and rural access, living south of Sydney in Nowra. After studying Myfanwy continued to live in Sydney and so many of the birth experiences she had heard and been exposed to were from the perspective of metro access women. When Myfanwy became pregnant she was already living and working as an occupational therapist in Mudgee in NSW. Having not heard many stories of rural women birthing she quickly had many of her previous maternity care expectations subverted as she explored her care options. In Mudgee pregnancy care is available at their public hospital in town or can be accessed out of area in larger rural cities like Dubbo. Mudgee hospital is serviced by GP obstetricians and so (not wanting to leave Mudgee for pregnancy and birth care, and being a public health worker herself) Myfanwy began GP shared care for the duration of her pregnancy.

Myfanwy had a lovely pregnancy and experienced quality care. She found the collegial knowledge she had, having worked with the people caring for her really comforting. She also discovered that being a health care worker gave her the confidence and a strong foundation to advocate for her needs. She felt heard, supported and respected by her GP obstetrician and was able to discuss her concerns and express her desires openly. Myfanwy waited for the onset of natural labour but at 41 weeks, 2 days gestation she opted for induction as she has had personal experience with neonatal death when her sister died and was acutely aware of the potential risks associated with late term/overdue birthing.

Myfanwy was induced through breaking of her waters and the syntocin drip; however, after several hours of labouring and not increasing in dilation she accepted the doctor’s offer of c-section and it was not long at all before her daughter Lucy was lying on her chest. Myfanwy did experience a post-partum haemorrhage and Lucy spent the first little while with her Dad instead but this did not minimise how elated she felt. Myfanwy was overwhelmed with a sense of love and achievement and was ecstatic to finally meet her daughter Lucy. There were some additional postpartum recovery challenges post c-section but Myfanwy and Lucy were well supported by helpful visitors and the proactive Mudgee MatCH nurse team who started a mother’s group and prompted the creation of supportive local connection with other mothers of young children.

Thank you to Myfanwy for sharing her birth story and highlighting how much can be made available locally with a dedicated rural maternity facility and quality rural care professionals.

Simone Stuart lives in Majors Creek near Braidwood in NSW. She is from ‘old stock’ and has a family history that goes back generations in this historical town. She is mother to six children (Leilani, Ariana, Sophia, Ava, Lucas and Hudson) and has had four births. Her first birth, the birth of her third daughter Sophia was not a rural birth. At this time Simone was living in Darwin, as was her sister Holly. She gave birth at the public hospital in Darwin and experienced midwife led care, as is common place there. Sophia’s birth was long and difficult and led Simone to believe that her subsequent births were likely to also be long labours. This was far from the truth. During the third trimester of Simone’s second pregnancy, with her fourth daughter Ava, Simone left the Northern Territory and moved home to Majors Creek in NSW, to create a home near family for her own growing household. Simone transferred from the close proximity urban based care model to a distance care model of GP shared care. Majors Creek is a small rural village close to the NSW / A.C.T boarder. Simone had anticipated using the facilities of the larger ‘Canberra Hospital’ but found that the atmosphere and regimented ‘take a ticket’ care systems weren’t offering what she desired. So approximately 4 weeks off her the due date of her second birth Simone transferred care to Queanbeyan hospital. Ava wasn’t planning on waiting or on slowly entering the world and so at 39 weeks gestation Simone was transferred from Braidwood’s small country hospital facility to Queanbeyan hospital with approximately 45 minutes to spare before Ava was born. Ava’s birth was a quick birth, as was her brother, Lucas’s birth who followed a few years after – proving that births have their own rhythm. Simone’s last birth, the birth of her sixth child Hudson, was exciting too. Hudson was born at 35 weeks gestation. Simone went into labour at home but once her and her partner were on the road they realised they needed fuel and so her partner dropped her off at Braidwood hospital to be assessed. Braidwood hospital doesn’t have an active maternity ward anymore but as with many rural and remote emergency units, this hospital does have the capacity to assist a birthing woman. Simone had the doctor on duty, 2 nurses, the on-duty paramedic, an offduty paramedic who was called in all present as she was assessed. Additional support was called in from both another paramedic team and the neonatal support unit drove into Braidwood for transfer as Hudson was premature. Simone has had a variety of different birthing experiences and her knowledge from these experiences is really powerful. I am grateful to Simone for sharing her stories and helping to inform others of the support that can be made available by both paramedics and rural emergency departments if needed. I hope you enjoy listening to her stories.

Emma Munnings is from Mongarlowe near Braidwood NSW. She is a mother to five children’ Lily, Louis, Gus, Marlo and Theodore. I met Emma through teaching at the local school and we quickly became fast friends. Emma has supported me in numerous ways throughout my time in Braidwood and a year ago she attended my son’s birth, to support my husband Lloyd and myself. I was not the first woman Emma supported during labour, she was also present at the birth of another dear friend’s son and her sister-in-law’s daughter’s birth. Emma is a giving woman and as she shares her story with us she gifts her experiences both as a birthing woman and a birth support person; not every one of these births was a ‘rural birth’ but discussing the variety of Emma’s experiences gave us the opportunity to contrast the availability of prenatal and postpartum care in urban centres compared with rural townships.

In my opinion Emma is an unofficial ‘birth expert’, she has given birth in a multitude of different ways and not one of her 5 births had a similar run or rhythm. Emma’s first born, her daughter Lily, was born in Melbourne CBD at the Royal Women’s Hospital Birth Centre and after this first experience Emma intended to use the birth centre again for her second birth but due to a late-term, large-scale bleed, Emma’s plans shifted quickly and she gave birth to her first son Louis via caesarean. Her second son Gus was born via VBAC and his birth was blissful under the guidance of a highly experienced midwife at the Canberra Hospital Birth Centre. Her third son, Marlo, was also born via caesarean; however, this was a planned caesarean as he was born early (at 36 weeks) and at a low birth weight. With her fifth and last birth came Theodore. During his birth Emma, her husband Nick and their growing family were living on a rural property in Mongarlowe. Again, Theodore’s birth moved at a slightly different rhythm again as Emma’s waters were broken by the obstetrician on duty in order to induce labour. This was Emma’s first rural birth; however, with the close proximity between Braidwood and Canberra (and as she had family living close to the birth centre) Emma didn’t have to do a last-minute dash. She began labouring in Braidwood but travelled to her brother’s home while she waited to go into hospital.

Emma’s stories are broad and highlight how every birth is different. Some of the themes in this podcast may be confronting for women dealing with birth trauma and I wish to highlight that the themes of emergency caesarean, preterm birth and induction are discussed.

It was thoroughly enjoyable to chat to Emma. Together we celebrated my son, Shanley’s birth (as we come up to the one year anniversary of his birth) and got to reflect again on her own birth stories and how much support she has offered to other women, giving of her own energies to be with women as they birth their first children and begin their journey into motherhood.

Dorothy Cross lives in Charleys Forest, a little over 20 minutes out of Braidwood NSW. I met Dorothy when my son was about a month old at Playgroup. We were really fortunate, as parents of young children, that someone took the initiative to organise this weekly group and give us all the opportunity to come together for chats and a play. Dorothy has also been regularly involved in the local parkrun at the Braidwood Showground and was instrumental in encouraging me to get out and about again, once those postpartum aches subsided. Dorothy is mum to three children, two born prior to moving to her rural property at Charleys Forest and then Bastien (her youngest) who was born in 2018. Bastien’s birth was a quick one. Dorothy went into labour as Anamae got off the school bus. Bastien was born a short while later at Queanbeyan hospital around quarter to 7 and Dorothy was driving her family home by 9.30pm. Living rurally makes you no stranger to travel but Dorothy definitely took the travel and distance in her stride, as she travelled to the maternity ward and back home in a single evening. Dorothy shares how, as a member of the Queanbeyan hospital’s ‘Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Service’ program, she was offered in home appointments with her midwife before and after Bastien’s birth. She believes that it would be phenomenal if in the future this community practice could become available to all rural birthing women and that minimising travel for pregnant women during that tight maternity check-up schedule could be achieved. I hope you enjoy listening to Dorothy’s rural birth story. I had a lot of fun talking to her. Dorothy is fantastic to chat to and I just felt like we bounced so easily as we shared in what it was like to be pregnant, birth and experience the postpartum period as rural women.