When Melissa Field opened Mamatoto Retreat in 2019 she ran her prenatal yoga classes for four women in a small studio in her Milton backyard. Fast forward to today and her classes are held at the larger Tidal Yoga Milton to cater for the ever-increasing demand for pre and post-natal services in the Shoalhaven - and there's a waiting list.
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So when it comes to proposed cuts to beds in the Eurobadalla Maternity Service from seven to three, as revealed in the revised Clinical Services Plan released by the Southern NSW Local Health District, Melissa said the move would have a huge impact on Milton-Ulladulla women.
"In a breakdown of the women in my classes in the past 12 months, 80 per cent are now planning to birth at Moruya, whereas before it would have been 50/50 Nowra and Moruya," Melissa said.
"There's been a huge increase in the population down here and there certainly appears to have been a baby boom."
Melissa said many of her clients have high confidence in the services at Moruya, referring to the 2019 Mothers and Babies 2019 NSW Government report that revealed Moruya had high statistics for vaginal births and non-induction rates were at the top of the state.
She said a local client recently suffered an extremely rare outcome in her birth and despite it being the number cause of maternal death in Australia, staff at Moruya acted quickly and the woman was transferred to Sydney where she is fortunately making a recovering.
While Melissa said staff did an "incredible" job, many specialists have already been lost in the Eurobodalla due to a lack of facilities and staffing pressures are mounting.
Melissa is also a doula, along with a Hypnobirthing Australia Practitioner, baby massage instructor, women's circle facilitator and health coach. In her work as a doula she's accompanied many women to Moruya and said the staffing pressures became clear recently.
She attended a birth with a women who was two weeks overdue and was booked in to be induced on a certain day and time. After arriving, a shortage of staff and beds meant she was asked to return at 5pm.
Upon her return, she was asked to come back the following day as the same issue still continued. The woman's induction was delayed a further three times the following day.
"The midwives were incredible and they've got such an important job but some of them were doing a double shift," Melissa said.
"It's a very hard situation to be in."
With Milton Hospital's birthing services closing in 2016, local women must now drive to either Nowra or Moruya to deliver. Whether they head north or south, Melissa said the drive doesn't benefit anyone.
"That drive can completely change the progression of labour. We know that adrenaline is counter intuitive to oxytocin and it's just incredible we don't have the services here," she said.
On the other hand, unplanned deliveries by the side of the Princes Highway have also increased as women in established labour attempt to give birth at Shoalhaven Hospital or Moruya Hospital.
Melissa's recent hypnobirthing client Anja Adams from Burrill Lake gave birth near Falls Creek in April - a situation Anja said would not have happened if birthing services were still available in Milton.
With mums, bubs and countless prams out and about in the Milton-Ulladulla region, Melissa said it's a whole new environment to what she first encountered.
After purchasing their Milton home in 2015, Melissa and her husband remained in Sydney until 2018. She recalled telling her husband she wanted to start their family in a region where young mums abounded and support was aplenty - and with its aging population, that wasn't the Milton Ulladulla region.
Today, it couldn't be a more different story.
"I've seen a complete population change in the last few years. It's been a massive change, a huge increase and so it doesn't make sense for our services to be decreasing," Melissa said.