Caitlin Gard Midwife

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Cairns, QLD
Caitlin Gard Midwife

Privately practicing midwife offering homebirth services in the Cairns region

24/10/2025

🫣

I don't believe every woman should have a vaginal breech birth.
Only you can decide if that is the right choice for you.

But I do, strongly, believe that every woman should have the option to be supported to.

22/10/2025

What if our children grew up thinking that birth was beautiful?

When I worked in the hospital I spent a lot of time talking to mothers about where they were going to send their other children in labour.
It was a significant stressor for many women.

Now I spend that time talking about how to prepare your children for birth.
Books. Videos. Audio.
Asking them if they want to be involved.

Some kids sleep through it.
Some do their own thing in another room and drift in occasionally.
Some are there the whole way through, wide-eyed and curious.

What a beautiful imprint for them to carry through the rest of their lives.
That birth is normal, beautiful, raw, vulnerable, powerful.

Not something to be feared.
But something to be celebrated.

Did you have your kids present for your births?

19/10/2025

This amazing birth from a few months ago.
Is there anything more beautiful than Dads overcome with emotion?

📸 shared with permission

16/10/2025

When you know you can say no...

15/10/2025

Peep those little feet sticking out the end of the sling.
They're sticking out when more a few weeks later.

4.3kg of squishy cuteness born happily at home ❤️

📸 shared with permission

10/10/2025

Isn't it funny how good research with proven benefit for mums and babies takes over a decade to make its way into general practice.

But not even a year after the release of the trial that shall not be named, it had already 'arrived' (

08/10/2025

“I’m worried that having another homebirth would be selfish.”

A conversation I had with a beautiful first-time mum some weeks ago.

For her, “selfish” meant not being able to contribute as much financially to her family. Wondering if it was unfair to prioritise her own birth care.

I’ve also heard that word hurled as an accusation from care providers, aimed at women who seek more respectful, physiological birth. As if wanting to feel safe, supported, and undisturbed is somehow a risk.

But that could not be further from the truth.

The way a woman births shapes so much more than a single day.
It ripples through her family, her community, her sense of self.
It touches her partner, her children, her friends.
All those who orbit her.

And the way a baby enters the world stays with them for life.

Gently or with force.
In power or in fear.
That imprint echoes through generations.

So how can it be selfish, when this one act of choosing yourself is an act of love
One that nourishes your family and strengthens the roots of your lineage?

We don’t make these choices just for ourselves.
We make them so our families can thrive.
We make them with love.

06/10/2025

LOVE a shower birth ❤️

This gorgeous boy was welcomed into the world by his Dads hands
With his very excited sister and Grandma close by

📸 shared with permission

01/10/2025

Not only do I have the privilege of witnessing powerful women birth in their homes, I also get to witness powerful women navigating the surprises and changes of plan that sometimes arise in pregnancy and birth.

You may have heard the phrase, “homebirth is not about where you birth.”
And perhaps you’ve thought, “What? Of course it is, it’s in the name.”

But the homebirth journey really isn’t about where you birth.
It is about the rite of passage that is the transition to motherhood.
It is about the choices you navigate, and learning how to stand strong in your own intuitive wisdom.
It is about stepping into the role of mother as protector.
It is about the relationships you build with your birth team along the way.
It is about feeling safe in your body.

And sometimes, despite the deepest preparation, birth takes us on a different path.

When a transfer or caesarean becomes part of the story, it does not erase the strength, the intuition, or the power of the woman who walks that path.
It simply asks her to meet her rite of passage in another form.

Homebirth is never just about four walls.
It’s about being held in your choices, respected in your decisions, and honoured in the sacred work of bringing life earthside.

✨ Whether at home, in hospital, or through surgery your birth is yours.
It is valid. It is powerful. It is sacred.

25/09/2025

“How do you know if a care provider is truly aligned with you?”

It’s not just about credentials or cost.
It’s about trust, respect, and whether they will walk beside you in the way you need.

There is a midwife/obstetrician/doula/birth keeper for everyone. But you need to find the one who is best aligned with you, not just who was best for your next door neighbour.

Here are 5 important things you should be asking about before hiring someone:
🌙 Do you support physiological birth?
🌙 What is your understanding of matrescence?
🌙 What is your stance on VBAC, 42 weeks, breech etc?
🌙 What happens if things don’t go to plan?
🌙 How do you partner with women choosing care outside of recommended guidelines?

The answers to these questions will help you feel if a care provider is the right fit for you, not just on paper, but in your heart.

Choosing a care provider is choosing who will witness you in one of life’s most sacred transitions.
If you make decisions based on anything other than who feels like the perfect fit for you, you might just sabotage that birth you've been dreaming about.
Choose someone who sees your power and respects your path.

✨ I’ve created a free Aligned Care Provider Questionnaire to take this deeper. It includes space to reflect, prompts for conversations, and guidance to support you in making the choice that feels right for you.

👉 Download it via the link in my bio and begin your journey to finding an aligned care provider with clarity and confidence.

📸 .luisewache
Shared with permission

23/09/2025

The role of a homebirth midwife is simple, profound, and often misunderstood…

Sometimes we sit on our hands, heat up water and make cups of tea.

Sometimes we use every single bit of equipment in our birth kit.

Some people say they have a midwife ‘just in case’, and that is totally valid, but continuity of midwifery care brings so much more than just a safety net.

At a homebirth, a midwife is:
🌙 Quietly monitoring safety in the background
🌙 Protecting the space so physiology can unfold
🌙 Skilled with clinical tools, though usually not needing to use them
🌙 Ready to respond in the rare event of an emergency
🌙 Offering comfort, reassurance, and presence from a place of intimately knowing you and your family
🌙 Supporting not just the woman, but the whole family

A midwife is part of the family, a safe space, and a holder of energy. They carry sacred skills in the realm of birth while never taking away from the power that already lives within the woman at the centre.

This is the art of midwifery.

📸
Photo shared with permission

Address

Cairns, QLD

Website

http://caitlingard.com/

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