Positive Birth Program preparing Kalgoorlie women and partners for birth
L-R: Midwife Amy Kirk and Clinical Nurse Manager Claire Easter out the front of Kalgoorlie Health Campus.
WA Country Health Service (WACHS) is expanding its Positive Birth Program to Kalgoorlie with in-person classes beginning in June.
Midwife and Positive Birth Program facilitator Amy Kirk will deliver the innovative birth program at Kalgoorlie Health Campus, with the first class from Saturday 15 June 2024.
As well as being a highly skilled midwife, Amy also went through the Positive Birth Program herself.
Each class is open to any expectant parents, whether they are first-timers or have had children before.
It provides them with the knowledge and tools required to negotiate the birth process including natural birth, assisted birth and caesarean section and covers topics such as breathing and deep relaxation techniques, care-planning for labour, birth, and breastfeeding.
Executive Director Goldfields Peter Tredinnick said the program has been successful in supporting country women through their individual birth plans.
“We know that women and their birth partners want to feel prepared when it comes to their birth experience, and the antenatal education programs are helping to do that,” he said.
“The program can help prepare expectant families with the knowledge, confidence and tools needed to birth calmy, and the range of classes can improve the physical and mental health of mums and babies.”
Martha Flores Del Castillo said she and her husband had a good experience with the program during her pregnancy with their first son in 2020 and felt the things she learnt also prepared her for the birth of their second son in 2022.
“It was a beautiful experience. It gave me the tools needed to prepare and cope with labour and birth,” she said.
"We both liked it. It helped us in the lead up to birth to have information – and it helped my husband to know how to participate."
Martha encourages everyone expecting a baby to get involved with the program.
Delivered in partnership with Hypnobirthing Australia, in-person classes are run as a full weekend course in the lead up to birth and are free for Medicare eligible families.
The program is also available right across country WA via telehealth.
To register, contact WACHSBirthEducation@health.wa.gov.au