Construction of a new birthing facility at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander holistic healthcare facility, Waminda, is expected to begin before the end of the year.

The $22.5 million Gudjaga Gunyahlamai Birth Centre and Community Hub will provide First Nations women along the South Coast with a culturally safe midwifery service. 

Gudjaga Gunyahlamai will be the first Aboriginal owned and midwife-led birth centre in Australia and is expected to welcome 130 newborns once the doors open late next year. The centre will follow the Birthing on Country model.

Regaining birthing rights

Birthing on Country aims to return childbirth services to First Nations communities and control. First Nations women have been supported through birth by family and cultural caring until disruption from colonisation.

A Birthing on Country service in Queensland showed mothers are more likely to attend five or more antenatal visits, are less likely to deliver prematurely and more likely to exclusively breastfeed out of hospital.

Maternal death for First Nations mothers is 3.7 times higher than for other Australian women.

“Aboriginal babies are more likely to be born with lower birth weights, to be born prematurely and are twice as likely to die in their first year of life," Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, David Harris said.

Waminda’s Melanie Briggs said the organisation have worked incredibly hard to get where they are today and are proud of the work they have done for reclaiming birth rights. 

“It’s incredible to think about the women that will be birthing here and that they can feel the sacredness and the powerfulness of Birthing on Country.”

Since May 2024 Waminda midwives have been privately employed to provide labour and birthcare to First Nations women in Shoalhaven Hospital.

“As a mum of four, I understand that holistic health care and support is critical from pregnancy right through to the early days of welcoming a new, tiny person into your family,”

Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips said.

Melanie said the life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people will be significantly improved through care that is culturally safe and respectful.

“Waminda’s Birthing on Country initiative is a key milestone for increasing the First Nations workforce that will fundamentally enhance generational wealth and sustainability for our people.”

Breaking down barriers 

Fiona Phillips recently announced nearly $800,000 towards the expansion of Waminda’s Dead or Deadly lifestyle program.

The federal grant through the Play Our Play program will support physical activity and health education for Aboriginal women and girls. 

The program was established as a response to Aboriginal women’s sense of exclusion from mainstream sport.

One in four Aboriginal women participate in sport or regular physical activity, research by Western Sydney University shows racism and ongoing effects of colonisation continue to inhibit women from taking part in sport. 

Waminda has been running the Dead or Deadly program for a decade, facilitating health, wellness and exercise programs for First Nations women and girls. 

“This is another example of a community wrapping its arms around women and empowering them to be happy, healthy and included,” Phillips said.