Hi, I'm Monica,
The Bondi Midwife.
I'm a private midwife with nearly 20 years' experience. I've spent almost all of it doing what I believe in most, being a known midwife for women from early pregnancy until six weeks after their babies arrive.
This is me as a baby with my midwife mum, my dad and sister.
Birth is in my blood
I was born at home in a little yellow cottage on Pinchgut Road, Kaukapakapa, in New Zealand. My mum couldn't find a home birth midwife, so with the support of her unicorn of a GP obstetrician, she birthed me at home. I arrived en caul, still in my amniotic sac.
That birth changed her. She went back to study, became a midwife, and was one of the early independent midwives in New Zealand's continuity-of-care system.
So birth was always around. Mum took me to my first home birth when I was four. I mostly remember getting my arm stuck in an old wringer washing machine. Mum remembers a little row of faces at the end of the bed, mine included, as a new life came into the room.
This is me with my own baby, and midwife mum, Kit.
Why I do this work
I had my two boys young, in birth centres, with very little intervention. I felt the full force of what birth can be: the power, the presence, the intensity.
Then came the postpartum. It was hard and it was lonely. I didn't have a known carer, so I learned to trust my instincts the hard way.
That gap is a big reason I do what I do. No woman should have to find her way through those first weeks alone. Becoming a midwife was a full-body yes.
My midwifery experiences
I've worked in both worlds: a freestanding birth centre, where physiological birth is the everyday, and busy hospitals. It's why I'm at ease with you at home or in hospital, and why I know when interventions help and when they don't.
Bachelor of Midwifery; registered and endorsed midwife
Gosford Hospital, then midwifery group practice
Most of my career at the Wyong freestanding birth centre, with a full caseload and full continuity of care
Clinical midwifery specialist, acting midwifery educator and research champion
Postnatal ward at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney
Second midwife in private practice, before starting The Bondi Midwife
Extra training in acupressure, Spinning Babies, optimal maternal positioning and GynaeZone perineal repair
How I care for you
"The transition to motherhood is one of the most important in a woman's life. Being held by a known carer through that time, one who respects you and your choices while supporting your body's physiology, cannot be underestimated."
I'm huge on consent. Everything that happens in your care happens with your full understanding and your yes. It's the centre of how I work.
I'll give you clear, balanced, evidence-based information, and then I'll back your decisions.
I'm a little bit woo-woo and a lot evidence-based. I believe birth is a rite of passage, and I believe in sharp clinical skills and knowing exactly when to step in.
The people around you
Your second midwife. An experienced midwife joins me for home births. You can meet her during your pregnancy, so there are no strangers at your birth.
A wider team when you need one. If anything comes up, I work closely with obstetricians, endocrinologists, mental health professionals and social workers. I also work with naturopaths, dietitians, acupuncturists and women's health physios, and I'm always happy to work alongside practitioners you already know and trust.
Life outside birth
These days, life is full. I live in Bondi with my tall, gorgeous husband James. Between us we have six kids, all now over 20, scattered across Sydney, Queenstown and Perth. When I'm not with a mama, you'll find me in the ocean or with my feet in the dirt, lifting weights, or cooking a big, wholesome meal for a table full of people I love.
“It’s not just the making of babies, but the making of mothers that midwives see as the miracle of birth” Barbara Katz Rothman
Let's see if we're a good fit
Whatever you're planning, and whatever you're wondering, I'm here to chat.