When Brodee Hyland gave birth to her second baby, a rush of phone calls, car packing and caring for her other daughter consumed her two-hour-long hospital labour. But when her third child arrived last year, Ms Hyland calmly gave birth at home, surrounded by family.
Ms Hyland's youngest baby, six-month-old Manari Kilian, was the 1000th bub born via the Belmont Midwifery Group Practice (BMGP)'s home birth program. It is one of just six publicly funded home birth units in NSW and provides mothers with a dedicated in-home midwife for all appointments.
Ms Hyland said birthing at home eased her nerves and offered a deeper intimacy with her new son, partner, and two young daughters.
"It's good to have the same familiar faces with you right throughout the pregnancy [instead of] meeting a new person every [appointment]," she said.
"It was just such a peaceful experience at home," she said. "There was no rushing around."
Shannon Kilian, Ms Hyland's partner, felt he was able to be more involved in Manari's birthing process than he was when his daughters arrived four and five years earlier.
"You're not just sitting in a chair next to the bed. You're involved and that was the best thing about it," the proud dad said. "I could make sure Brodee was safe and secure the whole time."
Together the couple were able to set up a birthing pool and be fully prepared for the arrival of Manari. Their daughters, Dahni and Elsie, proudly watched their mum deliver a long-awaited baby brother.
The girls had listened to Manari's heartbeat and measured their mum's belly right through pregnancy.
"[Having my daughters there] was pretty special for them," Ms Hyland said. "I was able to have my family there with me - the people that mean the most to me."
Dahni and Elsie were born via Birra Li Aboriginal Maternal Services, who provide care to Aboriginal mothers. Ms Hyland had all appointments at home with a dedicated midwife for these pregnancies before going to hospital for delivery. She said giving birth at home was a positive next step.
'An absolute privilege'
Midwife Elise Campbell has been working in home birthing since 2007 and wants to see more opportunities for mothers to go through labour in this way.
"It's an absolute privilege that you're invited into somebody's home," she said. "You enter their home, their sacred place. You get to know them on a totally different level and see them in their natural environment."
Ms Campbell said there is no difference in the level of safety offered to mums who birth at home instead of a hospital. Each woman can opt-out of home birthing or change their plans at any point.
The number of Hunter mothers choosing a home birth is growing, with 33 per cent pf BMGP mums choosing the service last year, up from 27 per cent five years ago.
"It can be seen as quite radical and dangerous but there is a huge difference between publicly-funded home birth and free birth," Ms Campbell said.
She believes the level of intimacy created between mother and baby, as well as the midwife and the family, is irreplaceable.
Ms Hyland's mother Kem Cooper agrees.
"I caught the baby," Ms Cooper said of her experience holding Manari right as he was born. She has been in the room for all 10 of her grandchildren's births but this was the first at home.
"It was the best," she said.
