About By Her Side Midwifery - Chantelle

I couldn’t wait to get in the room.

For as long as I’ve thought about what my grown-up life would look like - I’ve wanted to be a Mum, and by extension I’ve wanted to be a Midwife so I could support and nurture other Mums. With a dream to provide rural healthcare it’s advantageous to hold dual Nurse/Midwife qualifications so Nursing is where I began.

I trained as a Registered Nurse through the University of Wollongong graduating in 2018. I began my exploration of remote healthcare by successfully gaining a New Graduate Transition Nursing program in Broken Hill Hospital.

I couldn’t wait to get in the room. While I bided my time cementing my nursing knowledge I listened to birth podcasts, offered to help the midwives for anything they needed with paediatric care or emergency births (while I worked as a Paediatric Nurse), quizzed the midwives in their personal time and befriended as many as I could – I was obsessed with birth!

I applied for a Midwifery training program in my very first year Nursing and was successful in gaining a position at Tamworth Hospital, so up I packed and moved just in time to go into COVID-19 lockdown.

(Side note, fell in love with Luke, dragged him to Tamworth with me 😉)

2020 was a full-time year of training with Tamworth Hospital’s Midwives and Doctors while completing full-time online study and two intensive face to face practical weeks. I was finally in the room!! The program included the essential requirement of providing ten continuity relationships with pregnant women and being on call for their pregnancy and birth events. While lessons were learnt every day that year, I am so grateful for the families that welcomed me into their journeys. A seed was planted. I witnessed firsthand the difference a known care provider makes in your experience with the hospital – and subsequently, the role satisfaction I had in experiencing those relationships.

I graduated in 2021 so grateful for the training I’d experienced and having fallen in love with the Tamworth community and midwives – we stayed!

(And sealed the deal with 3 new pets)

It comes as no surprise that once practicing as a dual qualified Registered Nurse and Midwife, I began to dream of putting all that practical knowledge into lived experience – becoming a Mum. I was blessed in spontaneously conceiving our first son and entered the only continuity model of care offered by Tamworth Hospital at that time – Midwifery Group Practice (MGP). I experienced a low-risk pregnancy unwaveringly supported by a friend, colleague and mentor, Mandy. MGP has sadly not continued at Tamworth Hospital for a multitude of reasons, but will hopefully return one day.

Humphrey’s birth was full of lessons. In the space of an hour one Friday morning, I went from the beginnings of labour at home, to an emergency caesarean where I was put to sleep. Everything changed in an hour. The procedure was lifesaving for both of us. More on that later…

I returned to work in philosophical crisis. Midwifery is built on the concept that women are made to grow and birth their babies – but I wasn’t. What does that mean for me as a Midwife now?

Shift by shift I cared for women experiencing a whole variety of events. I expanded my understanding of physiology, risk assessment, preventive care and medically necessary interventions.

Despite my fears that I wasn’t meant to do this, I conceived a second pregnancy intent on achieving a vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) with the support of a Tamworth Private Obstetrician who provided continuity of care once again, and Tamworth Doula Jolan Grills. We achieved a VBAC (including an induction, epidural) after labouring overnight and crossing three shifts of midwives.

Hugo’s birth was the best day of my life. I’ll never forget the women, midwives, friends and Doctor’s who supported me that day, and the impact this has on entering Matrescence with the strength of birthing your baby confidently.

I returned to work scaffolded with a completely different experience and a profound understanding that you ARE designed to do this and I want to support you to do it. I am so grateful for the staff and resources at Tamworth hospital, it’s not something to fear, but it is helpful to know how it works.

I understand now after my years of practicing as a Tamworth Midwife (and birthing here) how to get the most out of our public maternity system, recognising the limitations of its resources and what it does well which is risk assessment, prevention and Emergency Care.

Understanding that public health care aims to provide ‘optimal outcomes’ for the most amount of women in a ‘one size mostly fits all’, cost-effective shape, I realised it’s not the Midwife I want to be. I’m here to be the midwife I set out to be; providing individualised, meaningful care across my full scope.

At By Her Side Midwifery physical safety of mum and baby is not the only goal –

it’s the bare minimum.

Qualifications & Training

    • Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Midwifery Endorsement 2026

    • Medicare Provider and Prescriber 2026

    • Graduate Certificate in Midwifery Diagnostics & Prescribing - Edith Cowan University 2026

    • Graduate Diploma of Midwifery - Charles Sturt University/Tamworth Hospital 2020

    • Bachelor of Nursing - University of Wollongong 2018

    • Bachelor of Nursing Clinical Honours - University of Tasmania 2019

    • Understanding Birth Trauma - ThinkNatal Education & Training 2026

    • Implanon-NXT insertion - Organon Pharma 2025

    • Early Abortion Care - Family Planning Australia 2026

    • Mentoring in Midwifery - Melanie the Midwife, Dr. Melanie Jackson (The Great Birth Rebellion Podcast) 2026

    • Adult and Neonatal Basic Life Support (competence and assessor) 2026

    • Neonatal Advanced Life Support (competence and assessor) 2026

    • Midwife Representative for Detecting and Responding to Acute Deterioration in Tamworth Hospital 2026

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Working alongside Tamworth Hospital

Private midwifery care complements existing health networks.

I work closely with local GPs, Obstetricians, and Tamworth Rural Referral Hospital to ensure you have a safe, coordinated care plan if medical escalation or hospital transfer is required.

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