Congratulations on your Pregnancy
What do you want your pregnancy and birth to look like? Where and with who?
Choose the model that works best for you and your family.
At MAMA Midwifery, we believe that early, personalised care can set the foundation for a healthy and positive pregnancy journey.
Bumpstart Package
Fast start your care with our $200 Early Pregnancy Package.
3 personalised consults with a private midwife up to 1 hour each
Initial Pregnancy Bloods & Tests ordered and discussed
Pregnancy & Birth Wellness and Q&A
Pregnancy Care Planning, Guidance & Specialist Referrals
No GP referral required. Book your package today and experience the benefits of continuity of care for better outcomes for both you and your baby
Call 03 9376 7474 to book
Understanding Your Pregnancy & Birth Choices
There are a number of tests and investigations you can choose to have in early pregnancy, that are aimed at assessing the physical wellbeing of you and or your baby.
You may choose to have an ultrasound at 6-8 weeks to confirm how many weeks pregnant you are, if you are not sure based on your period dates.
There are multiple blood tests that are recommended in early pregnancy that confirm your blood group, iron status and a number of infections that may affect your pregnancy or your baby.
You may also choose to have an ultrasound at 12 weeks pregnant, to assess how many babies you are having, the size of the baby and to confirm the baby's estimated due date.
There is also testing available at this stage of pregnancy to assess for conditions/abnormalities in the baby including the NIPT screening (a blood test) and the combined screening (a blood test and ultrasound).
If you would like to discuss or proceed with any screening or testing in pregnancy, you can attend an appointment with a MAMA midwife or your GP.
Maternal and neonatal mortality has comparable outcomes across all professional care models in Victoria. This is to say that wether you choose public hospital based care or private midwifery or obstetric-led care, the chance of having a live mother and baby after birth is essentially the same. However, if you want MORE from your experience than just a live mother and baby; for example a better chance of a particular type of birth, or less chance of experiencing trauma at birth, you need to make some thoughtful decisions about your chosen care provider.
Here are some comparisons of outcomes across some of the models of maternity care, that are available in Victoria. Where we have not compared outcomes, statistical information is not available.
Caesarean Section rates in 2019
This data is taken from Victorian Perinatal Data reports in Safer Care Victoria’s ‘Victorian perinatal services performance indicators 2019–20’. The statistics are for first time birthing women with a singleton cephalic (head down) pregnancy, at greater than or equal to 37 weeks of pregnancy in spontaneous (non-medicated) labour.
Public hospital care 16.9%
Private obstetric led care 22%
MAMA private midwifery led care- combined planned hospital/home 14.2%
MAMA private midwifery led care- planned homebirth 5.2%
The data shows that the ‘same person*’ can walk into different care settings and have a four times higher chance of an outcome. *Whilst data can compare similarities, every person is individual and these statistics do not account for individual choices or risk factors.
We have summarised your care choices for what you can typically expect in the main models of care.
Continuity of care is having care with a known practitioner/small group or practitioners who can provide consistent, individualised care and advice throughout pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.
A recent Cochrane review showed that both the outcomes of & experiences for pregnant parents and their babies are much improved with continuity models of care, and most specifically with midwife led (Sandall et. al, 2024).
Unfortunately, less than 15% of the population is able to access continuity of care in the public hospital system due to limited availability. Furthermore, some of the public continuity models only take ‘low risk’ pregnant people, so care will not commence until 28 weeks pregnant when this risk status is confirmed. This means the opportunity to get to know the primary carer is significantly reduced. The benefit is, however, that it is a free model of care.
Private midwifery and private obstetric models provide continuity of care from early pregnancy. However, whilst these models have predominantly better outcomes, they come at a cost to the individual.
In the private care model you can choose to have a private midwife (specialists in ‘normal’ pregnancy & birth) or a private obstetrician (specialists in ‘abnormal’ pregnancy & birth) to be your primary carer.
In the public hospital system, your primary care provider will be a midwife if you are ‘low risk’, or an obstetrician if you have specific risk factors that fall out of the midwifery scope.
You can also choose to have a private midwife provide care for you alongside the public hospital or private obstetric model of care.
Who you choose as your primary carer may be based on a variety of factors including your philosophy and desired birth outcomes, your desired birth place, cost and other factors.
Options for place of birth include public maternity hospital, private maternity hospital (under private obstetric care) or home (under private midwifery care or select public hospital homebirth programs).
Most public hospitals have a catchment area to avoid overbooking, so your closest maternity hospital will likely be the only public hospital of your choice.
Public hospital homebirth programs exist at Sunshine Hospital, Geelong Hospital, The Women’s hospital and The Mercy Hospital, all of whom have varied risk and inclusion criteria including a strict zone (you must live within 30 minutes drive).
Private obstetricians charge between $5,000-$15,000 for birthing services, with some Medicare and private health care rebates available. Private midwives charge between $4,000-$12,000 for birthing services (depending on planned place of birth), with some Medicare and private health care rebates available.
What if I don’t have Medicare?
If you do not have Medicare, public hospital fees for birth range from $15,000-$25,000. Private health insurance may cover some or all of this, depending on your level of cover. Birth at home with a private midwife is sometimes the most cost effective option for those without Medicare.
Thanks to a recent parliamentary enquiry in NSW into birth trauma, we are starting to see the impact that chosen models of care have on birthing people. Whilst we currently don’t have this data specifically for Victorian birthing people (as this was a NSW based study), we feel that this information is applicable across state borders.
Start by asking yourself these questions:
Where do you think you will feel you will be most comfortable to birth (at home or in hospital)?
Who would you like to be in the room at the time of birth (professionals and non-professionals)?
What would your ideal birth look like?
Answering these questions can help inform the care provider you choose.
Our Models of Care choices factsheet might help you answer some of these questions.
Intro to MAMA care
Clinic Consult
Experience private midwifery care in person at any of our three locations.
Bulk billed
(60-minute in-person consult)
Intro to MAMA care
Online Consult
Dial in for your personal chat with a private midwife via video chat.
Bulk billed
(30 minutes telehealth consult)
