Indigenous birth centre Gudjaga Gunyahlamai set to be built in Nowra

A pregnant Indigenous woman has hailed plans for Australia’s first Aboriginal birthing centre as “an amazing idea”. See what the facility would look like.

An artist’s impression of the plans.

A pregnant Indigenous woman has hailed plans for Australia’s first Aboriginal birthing centre as “an amazing idea”, saying it would be an honour to have the facility near her home on the NSW south coast.

Set to be constructed at 102-106 Hillcrest Ave, South Nowra – 160km south of Sydney – the $21.3m facility would be the first Aboriginal-owned and midwifery-led freestanding birth centre in Australia.

Known as “Waminda’s Gudjaga Gunyahlamai Birth Centre and Community Hub”, the centre would support culturally safe holistic maternity care for Aboriginal women and their families in the south coast region.

It would give Indigenous women “birthing courtyards”, allowing them to safely give birth on country.

Maddy Rowe, a pregnant Indigenous woman in the Nowra region, told this masthead she was using the South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation rather than a hospital for her upcoming child’s birth.

Waminda completing a sensing ceremony.

She said using the corporation, known as Waminda, would allow for a more culturally and spiritually connected experience.

Mrs Rowe said it would be an “honour” and a “privilege” to have her region house the country’s first and only Indigenous birthing centre.

The facility is set to be constructed at 102-106 Hillcrest Ave, South Nowra.

“This should already be established all over our beautiful country for our First Nation’s women and families,” Mrs Rowe said.

While Mrs Rowe will give birth before the potential construction of the proposed facility, she said she would take advantage of it if the timing was right.

“If I was to have another child, I would most certainly use the birthing on country facility,” she said.

The proposal comes amid a push by the NSW Government to support birthing on country for Indigenous women, noting birthing on country models have been shown to improve maternal and peri-natal outcomes.

NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs David Harris.

These include women attending more antenatal visits, being less likely to have a premature birth, and being more likely to exclusively breastfeed after being discharged from hospital.

The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District has worked closely with Waminda to support the implementation of its Birthing on Country initiative.

NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs David Harris said the Gudjaga Gunyahlamai Birth Centre and Community Hub continued the work of closing the gap.

“Aboriginal women and babies continue to experience health inequalities compared to their non-Aboriginal counterparts,” he said.

“Aboriginal babies are more likely to be born with lower birthweights, to be born prematurely and are twice as likely to die in their first year of life.”

Meanwhile, South Coast MP Liza Butler said she would be proud to have a first-in-the-nation facility built in her region.

“Birthing on Country models have proven to significantly improve maternal and peri-natal outcomes, and Waminda is leading the way for all Aboriginal women to have access to continuous, culturally safe midwifery care, which includes antenatal, birthing, and post-natal support,” she said.

“This initiative is about more than healthcare; it’s about respecting and nurturing cultural practices and ensuring better health outcomes for our communities.”

The plans:

NSW architecture firm Cola Studio created plans for the facility, with a spokesman describing the design as “a beautiful, safe and peaceful sanctuary for Aboriginal women to birth their babies on country”.

“The architectural intent of Gudjaga Gunyahlamai Birth Centre is a design that will embody Waminda – reflecting the strength of Waminda women and connection to Aboriginal culture and country. This building will become a touchstone of the community,” he said.

“Importantly, the design allows opportunities to reflect natural materials and country. Water, fire and smoke are embedded strategically into the design to permeate throughout the building and enhance the senses.”

An artist’s impression of one of the birthing spots.

The land at Hillcrest Ave, South Nowra is vacant.

Development application documents – currently sitting with the NSW Regional Planning Panel – describe the facility as ‘class 5’ and ‘class 9a’, being professional offices and healthcare.

The facility will include an outdoor covered waiting area, reception, indoor waiting area, children’s play area, public amenities, traditional medicine rooms, meeting rooms, administration hub and research hub.

Other facilities include four birthing spaces, new parent and family spaces, midwifery office and other medical areas.

The NSW Regional Planning Panel will determine its construction later this year.

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