Our Maternal and Child Health Hub at the Browns Plains Early Years Centre celebrated its fifth birthday recently. 

To mark this special occasion, a reunion party was thrown with free activities, crafts, food and entertainment for families. 

Local stakeholders that work with young parents and other midwifery hubs in the community were all invited to celebrate this special milestone. 

Families who have accessed the hub at any time over the past five years also attended, giving them an opportunity to reconnect with the midwives who supported them throughout their pre and post-natal care journey. 

Since its launch in 2018, over 600 families have accessed the service with 173 families engaged this year so far.

The hubs provide a free community-based midwifery service for expectant parents in Logan City, Queensland, who do not currently access maternity services, and who are: 

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. 

• Māori and Pacific Islander. 

• Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) or non-English speaking women, including refugees.

• Young women under the age of 21. 

The Maternal and Child Health Hub at The Benevolent Society is one of five community-based midwifery group practice hubs in Logan. 

“The Benevolent Hub focuses on supporting expectant parents, aged 21 and under, with place-based wraparound supports including midwifery, obstetrics, family support, antenatal group, playgroups, child health and vaccinations available onsite,” explains Rebecca Leahy, Acting Team Leader, Child and Family Services Queensland. 

“This has allowed young expectant parents to access a range of supports that they need to prepare for their baby in one safe space. 

Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby! 

The service aims to better coordinate and connect women to the health, community and social support services they need for a healthy pregnancy. 

“Some of the supports available include midwifery appointments, social support, referral pathways, antenatal education, donations to support with preparing for baby, support to access payments, and support to achieve their goals,” Rebecca says. 

The response has been overwhelmingly positive from the families who have accessed support. 

“Our Maternal Hub at Browns Plains has given them the opportunity to meet other young parents; it’s also supported families to transition to having their first baby and accessing the items that they need,” Rebecca says. “Many service users have returned to have multiple babies, and young parents who have transitioned into our Young Parents Playgroup have attended weekly for multiple years and with multiple children.” 
 
For more information on the Browns Plains Early Years Maternal Hub, visit their Facebook page or call (07) 3386 9000.