Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service to introduce publicly funded home births

A regional mum who chose to have her second child born in a homebirth on the Sunshine Coast has opened up about the decision, ahead of a new program which will allow more parents to do the same.

A mother who recently gave birth to her second child at a home birth on the Sunshine Coast has backed a move to introduce publicly funded homebirths from mid-2024, but says sufficient training is needed to make the service successful.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman announced on Thursday, November 23, the new service will be introduced at the Sunshine Coast Health and Hospital Service, which includes the Gympie region, from mid-2024.

Moranbah mother Michelle Purvis chose to have her second born child via homebirth on November 20. Photo: Martha Grace Birth Photography

Moranbah mother Michelle Purvis gave birth to her daughter Inika on the Sunshine Coast on November 20 through Know Your Midwife after a negative experience in hospital with her firstborn.

Ms Purvis said their nearest hospital was two hours away, so opted to have a homebirth on the Sunshine Coast where the hospital was much closer should anything go wrong.

“It was just seamless. I was stress free, because I knew I could just let things progress naturally and I didn’t have to worry about travelling to hospital and what was going to happen there,” she said.

Baby Inika Purvis was born on the Sunshine Coast on November 20, 2023. Photo: Martha Grace Birth Photography

She backed the government’s move to introduce publicly funded homebirths and said it was an “awesome step forward”, but there needed to be sufficient training to make the service successful.

Homebirths in Queensland can currently only be done with a private midwife, however the new $1.2m service will allow the Sunshine Coast Midwifery Group Practice to also offer the option for women with low-risk pregnancies.

More expectant mothers on the Sunshine Coast will soon be given the option of a homebirth after it was announced the region’s health and hospital service will introduce a publicly funded service.

It is the first of its kind in the state and brings Queensland in line with every other state except Tasmania.

The program is expected to take six months before becoming fully operational and will be reviewed after six months.

Know Your Midwife private midwife Mary Ziegler welcomed the news and said it would fill the gap for mothers who cannot currently afford a home birth and would hopefully stop freebirths – a birth at home or in the community where the intention is that it is not attended by a health professional.

Know Your Midwife’s Mary Ziegler has welcomed the publicly-funded homebirths program.

Ms Ziegler hoped specific training for homebirths would be offered as part of the program.

“It’s a great idea but if you’re not going to train the midwives, it’s not sustainable,” she said.

“Home birthing is a completely different culture and attitude to a hospital birth … there’s no button on the wall they can press if something goes wrong.”

According to Know Your Midwife, the average cost of a homebirth on the Sunshine Coast is approximately $5000 to $7000.

Those opting for a homebirth under the new service will be assessed against certain criteria, including the mother and baby’s health needs, how suitable the home environment is for a home birth and how far away it is from the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in case of emergency.

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman.

Those expecting triplets, twins or more are not applicable for the service and the pregnancy must have reached full term.

Ms Fentiman said Queensland women deserve access to “high-quality, respectful, and reliable maternity services” and this was a significant step in the right direction.

“This service provides additional options for low-risk pregnant women to give birth in the comfort of their own homes, aligning with our commitment to delivering care closer to where women live,” she said.

Sunshine Coast Health Nursing and Midwifery Service director Keppel Schafer said the community had been asking for publicly funded homebirths as an option for some time and the region was a “suitable place” to start the program.