Homebirth Queensland

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 💛

04/11/2025

While national conversations about birth rights are unfolding, we’re reminded how vital it is for women to come together, to listen, learn, and support one another. Our Homebirth Circles exist to keep that connection strong!

We have a pinned post on our Instagram with all the details about our Homebirth Circles. You can also find Facebook events for each of our circles on the HBQ page.

If you’re a midwife, birth worker, or mother who’d like to facilitate a circle in your local area in 2026, we’d love to hear from you!

04/11/2025

⚠️ Official Statement from Homebirth Queensland ⚠️

Not good news from the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) and RANZCOG.

We expected this from RANZCOG, but not from the very organisation charged with representing midwives and, by extension, the women they serve.

Their joint call for national laws to restrict who may “manage” labour and birth risks criminalising women’s autonomy and tightening control over how, where, and with whom women give birth.

Let’s be clear: birth belongs to women. It always has.

There was no consumer consultation on this position. This is an overreach. Existing legislation already makes it illegal to practise midwifery without registration. Doulas and birth workers who remain within their non-clinical roles pose no safety risk. They provide emotional, physical, and informational support that helps women feel safe and respected in birth.

Freebirth is not the problem. The real issue is the lack of accessible, relationship-based midwifery care. When women cannot access private midwives, rural maternity units, or continuity of care, some women will choose to birth outside the system out of necessity, and criminalising those decisions will not prevent tragedies. It will drive them underground.

📨 Take Action

Write to the ACM CEO to express your concern: helen.white@midwives.org.au (and CC in media@midwives.org.au and acmmidwiferyadvisor@midwives.org.au)

Remind them that:
- There was no consumer consultation
- This position undermines women’s rights and autonomy
- Existing laws already prevent unregistered practice
- Doulas working within scope are being unfairly targeted

It is disappointing that ACM has turned off comments on their announcement, silencing the very women they claim to represent.

Homebirth Queensland proudly co-signs the consumer statement led by Maternity Choices Australia.

In light of several recent tragedies linked to freebirth, RANZCOG and the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) are urging Commonwealth, state, and territory health ministers to introduce laws like those in South Australia under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) (Restricted Birthing Practices) Amendment Act 2013.

These laws would ensure that only registered midwives and doctors manage labour and childbirth.

Freebirth is the practice of giving birth without a registered healthcare professional, such as a midwife or doctor, present. It is different from a homebirth, which is planned and supported by a registered healthcare provider. The absence of appropriate clinical support during freebirth has led to preventable harm and loss of life.

Adopting this legal framework across Australia would help keep birthing women and people, and their babies, safe. It would also strengthen professional accountability and clarify the roles and responsibilities of obstetricians, GP obstetricians, and midwives.

Read the full statement on the RANZCOG and ACM websites: https://ranzcog.edu.au/news/ranzcog-acm-call-on-health-ministers-to-end-freebirth-deaths/

30/10/2025

Call it homebirth if you like, but really, it’s just birth as it’s always been 🕊️

29/10/2025

We know it’s a little cheeky, but we make no apologies for advocating for maternity care that feels human.

Continuity matters. Presence matters. And honestly, so does having time for a proper chat with the person supporting your birth ☕ 🫖

28/10/2025

When families begin exploring homebirth, many realise it is not only safe and evidence based, but far more attainable than they first thought.

Private midwifery care offers something that most systems cannot: time, continuity, and a trusted relationship that supports you from pregnancy through postpartum.

At HBQ, we recognise that publicly funded home birth programs are not yet available across much of our state. It is something we continue to advocate for.

In the meantime, every family that invests in private midwifery care is helping shape the future of maternity care in Queensland, choosing safety, connection, and the kind of care worth building more of.