25/05/2026
The future of homebirth in Australia is being decided right now, and you have until 5 June 2026 to have your say.
The NMBA (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia) is consulting on two sets of rules that, taken together, will determine whether women can keep accessing private midwifery and homebirth from 1 January 2027.
The endorsement reforms are mostly good: more midwives, fewer barriers.
But in the proposed updates to the Safety and Quality Guidelines is a clause that would require every second midwife to hold the same insurance as the primary. Insurance that does not exist for non-endorsed midwives in Australia.
If this goes through as drafted, the second-midwife workforce disappears, and with it the planned homebirth option for most women in rural and regional Australia.
We've made it easy to submit. Our templates include suggested responses, worded mainly for consumers, but easy enough to modify. So whoever you are, you can find your voice in this fight.
🔗 Templates + how to submit: https://www.homebirthaustralia.org/nmba-public-consultation.html
🗓 Deadline: 5 June 2026
Tag the midwives, mothers, and partners in your circle. Share this to your stories. Every submission counts.
Still unsure of how to submit? Send us a message. We're happy to help however we can.
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