Abby Holmes, Registered Midwife in Naarm / Melbourne


Welcome! My name is Abby, I am a registered MGP midwife living and working on Wurundjeri land in Naarm, Melbourne Australia. I live in a home by the beach with my partner Sam, and love to dance, sing, create, write, spend time with my divine family & friends, and talk about midwifery to anyone who will listen.

When did you know you wanted to become a midwife? I’ve always known. When I was little I had an innate fascination for pregnancy and birth; as I got older, this expanded into maternal health and reproductive justice. When I finished school, I went to uni and initially graduated from a Bachelor of International Studies with distinction, and started work for maternal health initiatives. With this I was lucky to travel around India and work in a variety of leadership positions, and later also travel to Africa and Norway. Eventually I felt a deep desire to channel my love and experiences into becoming a midwife. As a midwifery student, I was awarded for my work in models of continuity of care, particularly with vulnerable women/families with complex backgrounds and needs. I talk about my experiences and journey to midwifery on my Making a Midwife podcast episode here.

What does midwifery mean to you? Midwifery for me is firmly centered on the biopsychosocial model of health and the transformative capacity of birth. Naturally, this makes me a fiery advocate for one-to- one midwifery care.
I believe empowering women necessitates normalising birth, reframing the societal relationship with pain, and recognising women as masters of their own body across the entire reproductive continuum. I am invested in this cultural shift in the way we view women and birth.

What does your care specialise in? Relationship building, both between midwife and woman, woman and partner, woman and baby, and woman’s relationship to herself. Feeling safe in pregnancy and birth is everything, and is affected by who is around you. I aim to help you feel held. My discussions are evidence-based, trauma-informed and culturally safe. My biggest passions are mental health, neuroprotective child development, gentle parenting, leadership and mentoring, Birthing on Country, homebirth, and lactation support as a gateway to building maternal confidence.

I see midwives/obstetricians at the hospital already. Why would I need you? The public maternity system across Australia is fragmented, stretched, largely underfunded and underresourced. Too many families aren’t hit with this realisation until they are already pregnant. Most women will have on average just seven pregnancy appointments before birth, each just 5 to 10 minutes long, unlikely providing any time to discuss things that actually matter to you besides the basic safety of you and your baby.
Up to 1 in 3 mums are traumatised by their birthing and postnatal experience - the most common causes for this are lack of support, no access to continuity of carer, and inadequate education about physiological birth. The reason midwifery continuity of care (MGP, private midwives etc.) is in the highest demand it has ever been, is because it is the model that provides the emotional safety needed to directly negate this trauma.

What is the evidence for one-to-one midwifery care? The likelihood of birth trauma – according to several studies – is shown to decrease with midwifery continuity of care. Evidence also shows this “gold standard” of care reduces the need for medical pain relief and the likelihood of consequent interventions. More importantly, studies show that even when such interventions are medically necessary, the birthing woman will be less likely to experience them as traumatic.

How can I best use a session with you? Tailor your session with me around anything across the perinatal continuum. This can include pre-conception planning, your maternity care options, antenatal education, breastfeeding preparation, navigating intervention, and your choices surrounding birth. Here are some of families’ most common starting points for reaching out.

  • Knowing your options of care provider for your pregnancy and birth, and how to access them —
    e.g. private midwifery care, private obstetrics, public system, homebirth, continuity of care models available in the public system, doulas etc.

  • Accessing evidence-based resources on a particular topic — e.g. Physiological Birth, GBS, Induction of Labour (see my resources list here)

  • Unpacking / Understanding a previous birth experience — an informal chat from midwife to mother answering any questions you have.

  • Finding a student midwife — to support you through your pregnancy, free of charge

  • Hosting a Birth Blessing ceremony in pregnancy — how gathering your closest loved ones together to nurture your passage into motherhood can enrich your safety and transform your confidence to birth (a meaningful, parent-focussed alternative to a Baby Shower)

How do I book a session? Email me via my contact page. We will find a time around my on-call hours that suits you, usually within 1-2 weeks.