Home birth with Purple Patch Midwifery
For women planning to give birth at home, Purple Patch offers labour, birth and immediate postnatal care with Rachel and a second midwife.
What is a planned home birth?
Â
A planned home birth brings skilled midwifery care into the comfort of your own space. Think soft lighting, warm water, your favourite music and familiar people close by, with room to move, make noise, rest and find your own rhythm.
Â
During pregnancy, Rachel gets to know you—your hopes, previous experiences, worries and what helps you feel supported. You’ll also meet your second midwife and prepare together.
Â
Your care during labour builds on those conversations, with familiar people who understand your preferences and can support both you and your birth partner.
During labour, we support your comfort, assess you and your baby and provide clinical care, while respecting the atmosphere you want around you.
Â
Behind that calm is careful preparation: birth and emergency equipment, clear transfer arrangements and a receiving hospital.
Together, we plan for your hoped-for birth and for any extra care you or your baby might need.
The first hours with your baby
After your baby arrives, we support time together, skin-to-skin contact and those first feeds, alongside checks of your recovery and your baby’s wellbeing.
We help you get comfortable, answer your questions and make a plan for ongoing postnatal care, so you understand what comes next and who to contact for support.
Preparing together
Preparation includes a home planning appointment, reviewing relevant investigations, booking with the receiving maternity hospital and confirming ambulance cover.
We will discuss when hospital care may be recommended and record a transfer plan before the on-call period.
If transfer is needed, Rachel will assist with care and handover. After handover, the hospital team takes responsibility for clinical care. Rachel may remain as a support person, subject to hospital policy and circumstances.
What the package includes
· Rachel as your primary midwife and a second midwife for birth.
· On-call availability from 37 weeks to 41 weeks and 6 days.
· Clinical care during labour, birth and the immediate period afterwards.
· Birth equipment and consumables, including a birth pool and TENS machine.
· Transfer planning, assistance and clinical handover if hospital care is needed.
Could home birth be suitable for you?
Purple Patch's initial eligibility guide includes:
· Age 18 to 40 and a BMI below 35.
· One baby, with no more than four previous births.
· No previous caesarean birth or other uterine surgery.
· No significant medical or pregnancy complications.
· No history of major postpartum haemorrhage, shoulder dystocia or retained placenta.
· A birth address within approximately 30 minutes of a receiving maternity hospital.
Your pregnancy must remain low risk, your baby must be head down and labour must begin spontaneously within the agreed home birth window.
Final suitability also depends on your investigations and assessment, and agreement with the second midwife.
What does the evidence say?
Research in carefully selected women with low-risk pregnancies associates planned home birth with fewer birth interventions. We discuss the benefits, risks and uncertainty in relation to your circumstances.
How often does hospital transfer happen?
A review cited by RANZCOG found average transfer rates of about 34% for first births and 6% for women who had given birth before. Rates varied widely between studies.
Transfer may be recommended for additional pain relief, concerns about labour progress or the wellbeing of you or your baby.
Some transfers are planned and calm; others need urgent care.
Home birth package fees
Component | Amount | What it covers
Booking and reservation | $590 | Reserves your caseload place and covers booking preparation and second-midwife reservation.
On-call availability | $1,810 | Reserved readiness from 37 weeks until birth or the end of 41 weeks + 6 days.
Home Birth attendance | $3,500 | Rachel’s clinical component and the second-midwife response component.
Total Home Birth Fees: $5,900
Routine antenatal and ongoing postnatal appointments are billed separately.
Your estimated total out of pocket cost for pregnancy care, home birth and postnatal care is approximately $7,500 after eligible rebates.
If your birth plans change
Birth plans can change during pregnancy or labour.
If you change your mind to a hospital birth, home birth becomes unsuitable, or your midwives cannot attend, Rachel will talk through your care options and explain any refund.
Refunds depend on when plans change and the services already supplied under your booking agreement.