Homebirth Queensland

27/11/2025

🟣 BLOG POST
The way women are treated in early labour reflects a maternity system designed around institutional needs rather than women’s needs.
https://www.rachelreed.website/blog/early-labour

27/11/2025

Let’s build a homebirth library together. Drop a book that shaped your thinking in the comments.

Help keep homebirth visible, accessible, and protected. Become an HBQ Member today. Birth workers, we have a specific membership just for you. Your voice matters in this movement.

27/11/2025

Many women who choose homebirth describe the experience of finally being treated as the decision maker. That should not be remarkable. When care is built on continuity and relationship, your midwife knows you well enough to support your instincts rather than override them. Dialogue replaces pressure.

The reality in Queensland is that most women give birth in hospitals where access to continuity is extremely limited. Midwifery Group Practice programs cannot meet demand. Places in birth centres are scarce. This is not a system built around informed decision making. It is a system shaped by availability and policy rather than the natural and genuine needs of women and babies.

If choosing homebirth is what you genuinely want, it is a wonderful and legitimate choice. What concerns us is when a woman finds herself choosing homebirth or freebirth even though it is not her preferred model, simply because the hospital based options cannot offer the relationship based care she needs or because the system feels unsafe or unresponsive to her. In that situation, we have to be honest and ask, has she really been given genuine choice.

Women are turning to private midwives to secure continuity of care that other models cannot reliably provide. Some families pay significant amounts of money to be known and supported by one midwife. Others piece together antenatal or postpartum support depending on what they can afford. Private midwives who bulk bill make a profound difference, but these pathways should not be the only options available to women

HBQ is calling for meaningful Medicare rebates for private midwives attending homebirth and the expansion of publicly funded homebirth programs across the state.

If you want to support this work, become a HBQ member. Membership begins at $33 a year.

24/11/2025

The ABC’s headline is attention-grabbing, but headlines often strip away nuance. When we look more closely at what the article actually reports and place it alongside decades of high-quality homebirth research, a very different picture emerges.

If obstetric leaders recognise that the system is failing women, then the question becomes one of action. What is being done to examine the beliefs, biases and risk frameworks that underpin current hospital culture? What is being done to address the overuse of interventions? What is being done to expand birth centres, make homebirth accessible, and support midwifery-led continuity?

Demand for homebirth is growing because families are asking for genuine choice. Acknowledging the problem is not enough. Systems must change.

We encourage you to read the article for yourself (you can search the headline).

As always, we welcome thoughtful discussion. Share your reflections and experiences in the comments below.

12/11/2025

HBQ has signed a joint statement for consumers calling on Health Ministers to end hospital birth death and obstetric violence.

This statement reflects our shared position as an organisation that represents women, families and birth workers across Queensland.

There is so much more to say about this issue, but at its heart, our message is simple.

- Women in Australia have the legal right to give birth where they want and with whom they choose.

- Women have bodily autonomy and are fully capable of taking responsibility for their own decisions.�

- Respect for choice must sit at the centre of every conversation about birth.

10/11/2025

Birth has always belonged to women.

The Australian College of Midwives and RANZCOG have taken a public position that threatens women’s autonomy and the work of those who support them. There was no consultation. No conversation with consumers. And no recognition that existing laws already prevent unregistered practice.

It is time for women and birth workers to stand together 🤝

Join us at our Annual General Meeting
�📅 Wednesday 26 November, 10am
�📍 Annerley Baptist Church, 560 Ipswich Road, Annerley

HBQ is seeking new members and volunteers to help drive our advocacy in 2026.

09/11/2025

Homebirth Queensland Annual General Meeting 2025

📅 Wednesday 26 November | 10 am
📍 Annerley Baptist Church, 560 Ipswich Road, Annerley

This is the moment for our community to grow, connect, and take action.

We are currently seeking volunteers for key roles, including Convener, Secretary, and Event Planner.

If you have the time, skills, or passion to contribute, we would love to hear from you.

No one is going to do this for us. It is up to us, the women, families, midwives, and birth workers who believe in genuine choice, to protect and rebuild it together.

Send a message to learn more

09/11/2025

We thought this recent update from Dr Rachel Reed was important to share. Her latest blog post offers a detailed chronicle of the homebirth landscape in Australia, including how, as of November 2025, midwifery is increasingly collaborating with medicine in ways that may limit women’s choices.

For anyone wanting to better understand the history and current state of home birth in Australia, this is a really worthwhile read.

Have a look through the full post and share your thoughts below. Let’s keep this conversation going. 💬

🟣 BLOG POST UPDATE
I've updated this now epically long chronicle of the homebirth situation in Australia with the latest instalment featuring the recent RANZCOG+ACM joint statement.
Scroll down to: November 2025 – Midwifery collaborates with medicine to control women's choices
https://www.rachelreed.website/blog/homebirthaustralia

06/11/2025

Ethically made, soft, and designed to spark conversation. Every purchase helps us continue our advocacy for birth autonomy and real choice in childbirth.

Available in beautiful neutral tones, these shirts are perfect for birth workers, mothers, and anyone who believes birth belongs to women.

👕 100% organic cotton
💛 Ethically produced
🌏 Supporting local birth advocacy

Wear your values, and help us keep women’s voices heard.

Find them on our website or via the link in our bio.

06/11/2025

Homebirth Circles may be available near you!

These gatherings offer a safe, supportive space to connect, share stories, and feel empowered in your birthing choices.

Everyone is welcome, parents, grandparents, children, and birth workers alike.

HBQ is a community of mothers, midwives, and birth workers working together for real choice in childbirth.

We currently have circles in:

📍 Cairns
📍 Atherton
📍 Townsville
📍 Sunshine Coast
📍 North Brisbane
📍 Annerley
📍 Logan
📍 Gold Coast

We’d love to see these circles grow across Queensland!

If you’d like to volunteer or facilitate a circle in your area in 2026, please get in touch, and of course, come along to your local gathering. We’d love to see you there 💛