Melanie The Midwife

Melanie The Midwife Midwife in Private practice, Host of the Great Birth Rebellion Podcast, Midwifery Mentor and Research

Melanie lives in the Blue Mountains with her Husband and two children and has been a midwife in private practice, and providing homebirth services, since 2009. She has a passion for providing minimal intervention care and has respect for the physiological process of pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal period. Melanie loves to see the powerful process of birth unfold and watch families blossom

as pregnancy and birth unfolds. Her passion for midwifery led her to complete her PhD, called "birth outside the system", in 2015, and she has held positions in midwifery research, midwifery lecturing and National Policy development at the Australian College of Midwives along side her work as a midwife. Melanie has a degree in Naturopathy and incorporates alternative therapies and nutritional guidance into her midwifery care.

02/06/2026

Anti-D is not a medication, it's not a vaccination... it's a blood product.

Anti-D donors are voluntarily sensitised, meaning they have a negative blood group and they allow themselves to be injected with blood from someone with a positive blood group so their body starts making anti-D antibodies. Once they are sensitised, their blood is harvested, the antibodies are extracted and their blood plasma is mixed with other blood donors to create your single dose of anti-D.

Get the full story on episode 205 of podcast

01/06/2026

If you have a negative blood group, during pregnancy you'll be offered a blood product called anti-D. Anti-D is given preventatively through pregnancy and/or in response to 'sensitising events'. During a sensitising event, there is thought to be an increase chance of yours and your babies blood mixing.

If mixing does occur and there are fetal cells in your blood stream, the anti-D does it's work.

Get the full story on episode 205 of podcast

01/06/2026

Honestly… writing scripts as an advocacy strategy is practice for when you actually have to advocate for yourself… have you got some great script examples that other women can use when advocating for themselves in the maternity care system

Let’s fill this comment section with scripts for sisters to steal 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

31/05/2026

Mummas! if you've got a negative blood group, this weeks episode of The Great Birth Rebellion Podcast is for you!. If you want to fully understand the management for a negative blood group in pregnancy and after birth this is also for maternity care providers and students.

As a student I remember a shortage of Anti-D, so they just stopped giving it in pregnancy and saved it for after birth and sensitising events... this is when I first started questioning the routine use of anti-D.

See what you think of Episode 205 - Anti-D for Rh Negative Women

28/05/2026

People pleasers! You are going to find it hard to advocate for yourself in the maternity care system... this is where the 'script' strategy comes in. Developing and practicing scripts help you advocate for yourself in the maternity care system, you can build the advocacy 'muscle' in your brain. This way, you'll more naturally fall into self-advocacy instead of freezing and panicking.

Episode 204 of podcast is all about how to advocate for yourself and contains lot's of tips and tricks to help you.

You can make your own scripts and practice them, but some script examples include:
1. No, I don't want _________, I'm planning to ______________, can you please help me arrange that?
2. I would like some time to think about that. Let's talk about it at our next appointment
3. Before I choose, I need more information, where can I find more information?
4. No, I'm not interested in that, what are the other options?
5. Please don't ask me again, I have already given you my answer
6. Thank you for that information, I'm going to need ____ minutes to think about that, I'll let you know when I've made a decision

These all give you time to go away, make your own decision and then come back, with a pre-scripted response, to communicate your decision.

Have you got an advocacy strategy or script that worked for you? Pop it in the comments so other women can learn from your experience. More tips in ep. 204 of the Great Birth Rebellion Podcast.

27/05/2026

The convergence of rebellious midwives 2026. You're invited! See you in Melbourne July 31st-August 2nd.

It's more than a conference - its a convergence of truth tellers ready to fill our cup and support the sisterhood.

full details and tickets at melaniethemidwife.com

26/05/2026

The Great Birth Rebellion Episode 204 - advocating for yourself in the maternity system.
Your friendly reminder that You don't need anyones permission to use your own va**na... stop asking for permission during your pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

My Dear Friend Dr Kirsten Small explained it to me like this one day and I couldn't agree more. She says, when discussing your care with your care provider, tell them what you want and ask them to explain how they are going to facilitate that.

If this all sounds too much for you to navigate, you might be exhibiting people pleasing tendencies and don't see yourself as the boss and authority of your own maternity care. Sister! Episode 204 podcast is for you.

26/05/2026

POV: you realise that women are at more risk of dying from a caesarean compared to a va**nal birth… and that the caesarean rates are increasing for no good reason, which means more women will die for no good reason

Sometimes having a caesarean is worth the risk, because the risk of not having one is worse than the risk of having one… but there is no mistake about it, more women die of complications from caesarean section than do from va**nal births…

Address

Blue Mountains
Springwood, NSW

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

0425 280 682

Website

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