Redcliffe midwife Mel Redsell’s journey founding charity A Brave Life for teen mums

‘Violence, trauma, relationship breakdowns, shunned by those I love’: Redcliffe midwife Mel Redsell turned her teen pregnancy experience into a charity to support others through poverty and trauma. Read her amazing story of hope.

After experiencing the challenges and trauma of being a teen mum in southeast Queensland first-hand, a Redcliffe midwife has started a charity to transform the lives of young mothers.

A Brave Life supports young women facing a broad range of challenges from teen pregnancy to domestic violence, poverty, trauma, and homelessness.

Founder Mel Redsell, 44, of north Brisbane, has lived with the stigma of falling pregnant at 16 in regional Queensland.

Seventeen-year-old Melissa Redsell in hospital with her newborn daughter. Picture – contributed.

“Everyone, including my family and friends were saying I had ruined my life,” Ms Redsell said.

“There was violence and trauma, I experienced relationship breakdowns and was shunned by people I loved.

“I never wanted my pregnancy to define my future, so I found the courage to graduate high school seven months pregnant.”

Ms Redsell said everyone was telling her “you’ll ruin your life”, “you’ll never amount to anything”, “your life is over” and more.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. There was so much stigma and judgment from my family to my school principal and even from my peers,” she said.

Teenage Melissa Redsell with her daughter. Picture – contributed.

Despite growing up in a domestic violence household, Ms Redsell said she knew she wanted a better life for her daughter.

“I was living between homes with a newborn baby, with no support and I was really struggling,” she said.

“When Breanna (her daughter) was maybe 10 months old I remember looking at her and she was looking back at me with her big beautiful brown eyes and I just knew I had to do better for her. I couldn’t keep just barely getting by.

“I was very determined to not let the words people said tell my story…so I enrolled at university as a single parent and eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science degree.”

Ms Redsell has worked as registered nurse and midwife at hospitals across Townsville and north Brisbane, and has now been a midwife at Redcliffe for the past 19 years.

At Redcliffe Hospital Ms Redsell said she saw too many young mums with no support.

Melissa Redsell with her daughter on her wedding day. Picture – contributed.

To help Ms Redsell founded A Brave Life in 2015 and recently wrote a book detailing her remarkable journey.

“A Brave Life was founded to help young mothers break out of entrenched and challenging cycles so they can forge stronger, healthier, more stable lives,” she said.

“I know many young mums are doing it tough, including managing distressing relationships with their baby’s father, domestic violence issues, dealing with mental health challenges or insecure housing.”

Melissa on her daughter's, Breanna Solomon, wedding day. Picture – contributed.

A Brave Life has developed a range of programs to support young mums.

“The first half of the book is my story and the second half is more interactive and educational to help teen mums with their journey,” she said.

17-year-old Melissa Redsell with her newborn daughter. Picture – contributed.

“If I could I would tell my 16-year-old pregnant self that it’s going to be okay. What people say about you and to you doesn’t define your future, it is okay to fail, we have choices and we can choose to be defined by our decisions or we can choose to keep going.

“I failed my first two semesters of university. I could have given up because I failed and it was hard, but I chose to keep going and that’s why I’m here today.

“(I’d tell myself) Where you are right now is not where you’re going to end up. Keep going.”