Yvette Bracefield was forced to give birth alongside a regional highway as her town's only maternity suite was sitting empty, having been turned into a COVID-19 ward.
The woman from Chinchilla in southern Queensland recalls her daughter Beatrix letting out her first cry — the first sign of life in a situation where so many things could have gone wrong.
"She just relaxed against me and once I heard her cry, I knew she'd be alright," Ms Bracefield said.
Ms Bracefield said the delivery happened in early January while she rushed to Dalby, 80 kilometres away, because of a lack of birthing services in her home town.
She was unable to use the only birthing suite at Chinchilla Hospital because it had been turned into a COVID-19 ward which, at the time, had no COVID patients in it.
'My roadside baby'
Ms Bracefield said the hospital's birthing suite was repurposed late last year.
"In line with healthcare facilities across the state, infrastructure measures were undertaken at the Chinchilla Hospital in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," a Darling Downs Health spokesperson said.
"This included making changes to the midwifery care space, in the event of a COVID-19 case at the hospital."
When Ms Bracefield presented to the hospital on January 3, nurses told her she was 6 to 7 centimetres dilated and able to make the hour-long drive down the Warrego Highway to reach maternity services in Dalby.
With no private birthing suite available in Chinchilla, Ms Bracefield said her only alternative was to stay and give birth in the Accident and Emergency Centre with little privacy.
"I thought my best option is to go to Dalby Hospital, because that way I am not giving birth in an area where anyone can walk in with an injury and where the bathroom is communal," she said.
What ensued was a traumatic car ride at 100 kilometres per hour.
Just 25km outside of Dalby, Beatrix began to crown and Ms Bracefield's husband, Michael, pulled to the side of the highway.
Her midwife, who was following in another car, arrived soon after.
Standing on the bitumen in the morning light, Ms Bracefield gave birth to her "roadside baby".
"When I look back and think if one thing had been slightly different — if the umbilical cord had been around her neck, if I had bled heavily after giving birth, if her shoulder had been caught — we would have been at great risk," Ms Bracefield said.
'Unacceptable' maternity services
Ms Bracefield's story is not the first, and other expectant mothers from Chinchilla and the surrounding towns of Miles and Tara have made the same journey to Dalby in labour.
Chinchilla Hospital has a long history of sporadic offerings of maternity services, largely due to staff shortages.
The hospital was criticised for its decision to turn one of its two labour wards into a "maternity consultation room" in 2010.
Rural Doctors Association chief executive Peta Rutherford said the recent decision to turn the last remaining birthing suite into a COVID ward, effectively closing private birthing services, was untenable.
"For us, it's an unacceptable outcome. There needs to be a pathway forward for Chinchilla to maintain its maternity service," Ms Rutherford said.
Since being interviewed by the ABC, Ms Bracefield said she was contacted by a senior Darling Downs Health official and told the birthing suite at Chinchilla Hospital had been restored.
In a statement, a Darling Downs Health spokesperson said the hospital had thus far not provided extended care to a COVID-19 patient and the birthing suite "continued to be used for maternity care".
When asked directly about Ms Bracefield's case, the spokesperson said families were not obliged to follow the advice or instructions of clinical teams.
Regional staffing under pressure
A 2019 report from Queensland Rural Maternity Task force found women living four hours or more from a maternity service had higher rates of preterm birth, stillbirth and neonatal death.
It also found the rate of babies born before their mothers arrived at a hospital was increasing in Queensland and highest among women living one to two hours away.
"In recent times, we've seen [birthing services close in] Theodore in Queensland … Yarrawonga, Kyabram in Victoria … [and] Temora in NSW, so it's not unique to the situation in Chinchilla," Ms Rutherford said.
She said workforce shortages were a key contributor to birthing services closing, and COVID-related pressures of regional hospitals had exacerbated the situation.
Ms Bracefield hopes her experience can improve services for other expectant mothers in regional Australia.
"I am telling my story because I don't want other women and their babies to be put at risk," she said.
