MACARTHUR’S Michelle Daga was one of five finalists in the 2023 AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award.

I caught up with Michelle to find out how life led her on this extraordinary journey.

A country girl from the start - growing up in the Wimmera; then working as a journalist at the Wimmera Mail Times and then at the Warrnambool City Council in communications.

Michelle left the Western District for Cairns in 2012 where she launched a freelance writing career and copywriting agency.

It was at this time that Michelle was diagnosed with coeliac disease, which initiated a personal holistic health journey.

Michelle started a blog on living with coeliac disease, wrote a cookbook on gluten free recipes and trained as a nutritionist.

“My autoimmune disorder was also threatening my fertility,” she said.

“When I was told I may not be able to have a family, my focus turned to holistic reproductive health and birth-work.

“My own mother experienced birth trauma with myself and my sibling at a Western District hospital, and as a result, developed postpartum depression which had ripple effects on my childhood and throughout my life.

“This, and my experience as a survivor of domestic violence, inspired my desire to reclaim my power and have an empowering birth, and after immersing myself into the world of birth-work, I had a beautiful and healing water birth at home in 2019.”

Since then, Michelle has trained with leading birth professionals all around the world, certifying as a doula, childbirth educator and postpartum nutritionist.

She then moved from Queensland to Melbourne the day lockdown began, with her six-month-old in tow, and spent the next two years providing virtual support to families across Australia, while also navigating her own postpartum in isolation.

“I returned to the south-west in 2022, 10 years after moving away,” she said.

“(I) soon realised there was a lot of work to be done to improve birth outcomes here in rural and remote Australia.”

Tell me how you first recognised the need for birthing and postpartum care in the bush?

“Currently one in three Australian mothers experience birth trauma, one in five are diagnosed with postpartum depression and one in ten fathers and birth partners experience post-traumatic stress or depression after the birth,” Michelle said.

“People in rural areas are up to four times more likely to experience birth trauma.

“Unfortunately, we are experiencing continued decline in access to birthing care and birth options in rural areas, including closure and bypass of maternity wards, closure of bush birthing units, staff shortages, lack of funding, and very few private midwives and doulas in rural areas.

“Homebirth with a midwife is not an option in the majority of rural Australia, and we only have one practicing homebirth midwife servicing all the Western District.

“When I returned to the Western District last year, after ten years away, I was disappointed to realise not much had changed since my mother’s own traumatic birth with me 35 years ago.

“I was also overwhelmed by the number of people seeking my support - as one of only a couple of doulas in western Victoria.

“With birth trauma rates and postpartum depression rates continuing to climb, particularly in rural areas, I wanted to find a way to create positive change and make birth education and postpartum preparation more relevant and accessible to rural people.

“While the other birth education programs I am certified to deliver were popular in Queensland and Melbourne, I have found that here in the south-west, the rigid schedules for in person classes, or long hours on video calls, aren’t really suited to farming families, people with sporting commitments, or those with unstable internet connections. 

“Until now, the advice and education hasn’t always been relevant for rural families with limited birthing options, or those travelling long distances to hospitals.”

Why are country women more disadvantaged/vulnerable?

“Birth trauma and postpartum depression is impacting all parents, and having ripple effects on their babies, entire families, and communities too,” Michelle said.

“Studies have found rural people are up to four times more likely to experience birth trauma and there are many reasons for this.

“Firstly, people in rural areas often don’t have the option to choose their preferred model of care but are instead referred to the nearest public hospital (which may be hours away).

“We’re even seeing maternity wards in larger regional hospitals put on bypass and people being forced to travel to a different region to birth.

“People living in rural and remote areas often don’t have a choice of care providers, and are less likely to experience continuity of care which is the gold standard, and may instead be assigned to whoever is on duty on the day of their check-up, or when they’re giving birth.

“So, there is no opportunity to build rapport and trust with a known care provider for one of the most significant and sacred rites of passage we can experience in life.

“And feelings of fear, anxiety, or simply having someone unfamiliar in your space, can disrupt those beautiful natural labour hormones causing labour to slow down or stall, and then we often see synthetic induction methods used which can cause a cascade of interventions leading to more difficult births, complications, and poorer birth outcomes.

“We are seeing high rates of medical interventions in rural hospitals, and while we are lucky to have that medical help when it is truly needed, interventions and procedures that are carried out without full informed consent and proper communication are one of the top causes of birth trauma.

“This is just one of the many reasons that some people would prefer to birth in the comfort and safety of their own home, but we have very few private midwives in rural Australia, and is not funded by Medicare, so homebirth is not a viable option for most people, and accounts for around only 0.3 per cent of births in Australia.

“And rural areas have limited access to adequate support in the postpartum time, and a lingering culture of shame and taboo around asking for help, especially for men and fathers who are suffering in silence.

“We know that having a doula, which is a trained support person who generally supports parents through pregnancy, birth and postpartum, and completing independent birth education, can both have a positive influence on birth outcomes, helping to reduce the risk of unwanted interventions, and reduce the rate of birth trauma and postpartum depression.

“But we also have far fewer doulas and childbirth educators in rural areas.

“And that’s when I realised, I had the opportunity, and the obligation, to do something to make birth better for people in the bush.”

What are your plans to make a positive difference in helping prospective mothers through their birthing journey?

“Better Birth in the Bush will deliver a self-paced online birth education and postpartum support program,” Michelle said. “(It is) designed specifically for the unique circumstances and challenges of rural families, that parents can access at any time, and come back to whenever they need.

“The program will be presented as independent evidence-based birth education in a mentorship style.

“(It will enable) parents to become self-empowered to make informed decisions, self-advocate for themselves and their babies, understand their rights and options, and learn practical tools including active and upright birth positions, relaxation and breathwork, mindset skills, natural comfort measures, and hands-on support techniques for birth partners, as well as nutrition, microbiome, wellbeing and planning for the postpartum time.

“To provide ongoing support, Better Birth in the Bush will also provide a virtual village with moderated online peer support groups for both expectant and new parents.

“Following on from the launch of the online program, will be a Practitioner Certification program and affiliate partnerships, allowing rural people to share their passion for empowering birth and support their local communities at ground level.

“My vision is to have Better Birth in the Bush practitioners delivering supportive grassroots gatherings in rural and remote community halls and pubs and playgrounds, right across Australia.

“Better Birth in the Bush will also be launching a giving back program, donating to indigenous Birthing on Country projects and supporting perinatal care access for other marginalised communities, as well as providing a matched course sponsorship program, providing access to the program for parents most in need.

“Before any of this though, I am launching a free online directory, and welcoming all rural and remote midwives, doulas, birth workers, childbirth educators, and perinatal professionals including pregnancy chiropractors, prenatal yoga teachers, pelvic floor physios, birth photographers, etc, to be listed, at no cost.

“And the Better Birth in the Bush platform will be used to share the stories of rural birth workers and parents, who have the lived experiences of these challenges, as well as the tools to overcome them.”

It's an amazing achievement to be named a finalist in the 2023 AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award. How can that recognition assist you in your future endeavours?

“I am so grateful that the importance of birth work is being recognised,” she said.

“I’m thankful to have the opportunity to have these important conversations in the media at local, state, and national level, about what we can collectively do to improve birth outcomes for rural and remote families.

“But I’ve also been blown away by the positive response and feedback from midwives, doulas, birth educators and parents from right across Australia and internationally too, who are thanking me for recognising them, and filling a gap that is being overlooked by the powers that be.

“There are a lot of wonderful people who are working tirelessly to improve birth outcomes in Australia, and I want them to know they are seen, and valued, and that I will use this opportunity to amplify their voices too.

“I also want to thank my own doula Shelly Langford, for not only supporting me to achieve such an empowering birth, but planting the seeds that are now allowing me to help others do the same. Thank you!”

What is on the agenda for Michelle Daga now?

“I will be very busy over the coming months finalising the Better Birth in the Bush online course for parents, which I plan to launch later this year, before the roll out of the practitioner certification and affiliate partnerships in 2024,” she said.

“I am also providing private pregnancy mentoring, postpartum health support and birth education classes online and across the south-west in my private practice Birth Medicine, and of course, keeping busy chasing after my toddler.”

You can follow Better Birth in the Bush on social media and at betterbirthinthebush.com.au