Fast forward 24 years, and Ms Harvey was back at the northern suburbs’ hospital meeting her granddaughter, Maddison.
“The birthing centre is very important to our family as my daughter Meagan also give birth to her daughter Maddison there in April of 2016,” she said.
The Lyell McEwin Birthing Unit is this year celebrating its 30th anniversary.
It was the state’s first dedicated birth centre when it opened three decades ago, offering midwifery-led care for women during their pregnancy, labour and birth.
Ms Harvey described being the first mother to give birth at the unit as a “special experience”.
“It was a lovely environment that felt just like home,” she said.
“I experienced such amazing support from the midwives and it was great to be able to reassure my daughter that she would be in safe hands at the birth centre as well.”
More than 15,000 babies have been born at the centre since it opened in 1992. These days, an average of 50 babies are born there each month.
The unit’s midwifery care model is available to women whose pregnancies are low risk and who plan to have an intervention-free birth.
Care is then delivered by the same one or two midwives throughout the pregnancy and birth.
There have been 310 water births at the centre since this delivery option was introduced in 2005.
Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) Midwifery Director Marnie Aldred thanked the “outstanding” midwifery staff at the birth centre, who had supported and cared for mothers and their families over the past 30 years.
“Thank you also to the women who embraced this model in the early days,” she said.
“It has been a privilege to be part of your birthing journeys.”
For more information on pregnancy services, visit SA Health.
