Friends of Maitland Homebirth

19/05/2026

Congratulations to Natasha and Jayde on the arrival of Āraia 🤱🏼

I am riding on the high of how incredibly exciting and special it is to see the first baby born in a program we worked so hard to create, absolutely beautiful! 😍

19/05/2026

I cannot find the words to describe how over the moon I am feeling - the first baby born at home after all our hard work. What a milestone, what a beautiful start to a program that will change so many lives!

A very special milestone for our Maitland Home Birth Program!

On Sunday 17 May at 4:09pm, Natasha and her partner Jayde welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Āraia, into the world - the very first baby born through our new public home birthing service.

Natasha was supported by our wonderful midwives, Karen, Amba & Susan, and the whole team was thrilled to celebrate the safe arrival of this little one.

Congratulations to Natasha, Jayde and baby Āraia. What an incredible start to this new service.

13/05/2026

Throughout this whole process every milestone brought a breath of relief rather than a celebration. I was constantly waiting for someone to take it away, but we made it.

People keep telling me “you’ve done an incredible thing” and I still don’t quite know how to respond or take the compliment. I still feel like I didn’t really do anything 😅 but never ever underestimate the power of speaking up.

I’m working on owning what I’ve achieved. I did something that many people told me wasn’t worth the effort and brought forward something our community really, genuinely wanted, and that’s not nothing.

In twenty years time, when my babies are all grown up and hundreds of babies have been safely born at home in Maitland, I’ll get to say “I started that” 🩶

07/05/2026

07/05/2026

05/05/2026

“You can’t stop smiling” - someone said this to me today, and they were so right. Such an emotional day celebrating what a huge milestone this is for maternity care in our region.

Thank you isn’t enough. It’s official, and I am so incredibly grateful.

04/05/2026

It’s official. The day has come and it’s REALLY truly HERE! 🥹

As of 8am this morning, women who are enrolled in MGP and have elected to birth at home can do so, with the first women to birth at home over the next few weeks.

We have an official, formal launch tomorrow (by invitation only) and I’m SO excited to share it with you - there WILL be tears, there already are from me. 😭🥲

I still cannot believe this is here - thank you from the bottom of my heart. We have changed LIVES together my friends.