Studies and reviews, both overseas and in Australia, have shown that there is a need to change the way in which maternity services are provided to ensure that they were responsive to the needs of women. Access to midwifery continuity of care and planned homebirth services have been recommended strategies in a number of these reports.
As yet there have not been any community-based midwifery care programs incorporating homebirth implemented within the public health system in New South Wales. This project was a result of an identified need to improve access to homebirth services, both for local women and for midwives. This report provides a descriptive, non-comparative evaluation of the first 18 months of the St George Hospital Program. The evaluation is limited by the small numbers of women who accessed the program. Nonetheless, it provides useful information on the first publicly funded homebirth survive in NSW.