Midwife Gina Muenzinger was inspired to join the profession after seeing the care her twins received when they were born premature.
Originally from Bulgaria, Mrs Muenzinger had worked for 13 years as an accountant, including in South Africa.
They moved to South Australia, where she gave birth to fraternal twins Isabelle and Calvin at 34 weeks gestation.
“I was observing the midwives and said to my husband, ‘why can I have a job like that, it looks lovely’,” Mrs Muenzinger said.
As soon as she started working as a midwife, she absolutely loved it.
“I knew I was born to do that, the excitement is still there,” Mrs Muenzinger said.
She has been delivering babies for 20 years now and reckons she has seen it all, losing count of the number of babies she has delivered – sometimes two on a single shift.
A moment that stands out to Mrs Muenzinger is when she delivered a baby with the amniotic sac intact, also called an en caul or mermaid birth.
She has witnessed this twice, which is extraordinary considering the event only happens about every 1 in 80,000 births.
Both were water births and she said it made it even more spectacular.
“The feeling you’re invited into a couple’s special moment, that amazes me every time,” Mrs Muenzinger said.
Mrs Muenzinger provides midwifery care Myhealth Yarrabilba on Tuesdays, providing bulk-billed antenatal and postnatal care.
She also provides a clinic at Pimpama and works at Logan Hospital as a midwife across all areas of the maternity ward.
She said the Logan Hospital maternity ward had been upgraded as part of the hospital’s expansion, which gave women more birthing choices, such as a bath for a water birth.
She said the main difference in the care she provides at the hospital and as a private midwife is the continuity of care.
Continuity of care is where a woman receives care from the same midwife from when they get pregnant to six weeks postpartum.
Mrs Muenzinger said she believed community midwifery was important for women since it could make a significance difference to postnatal recovery for both mothers and babies.
“It’s really beneficial for women to see the same midwife,” Mrs Muenzinger said.
‘[They have] less postnatal depression,” she said.
She said pregnant women don’t need a referral to see a private midwife
You can find more information on Mrs Muenzinger’s Private Midwifery Services Facebook page.
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