HOMEBIRTH NSW Team

Meet our amazing Homebirth NSW Team! They are an impassioned lot who work tirelessly at mothering, keeping their homes running, maintaining their professional lives and being wonderful members of their communities, yet they still find the time to show up for Homebirth.

Aimee sing

PRESIDENT

Aimee is a mum, doula, breastfeeding counsellor, birth activist and environmental scientist living in the beautiful Blue Mountains. After attaining her PhD in plant physiology she decided that birth and babies were far more interesting than plants, and redirected her efforts towards becoming a breastfeeding counsellor and doula. Aimee joined Homebirth NSW as editor of Birthings magazine in early 2017, after the blissful homebirth (HBAC) of her son, Hamish. Since then she has been actively involved in homebirth advocacy and now sits on the committee for Maternity Choices Australia, is co-coordinator of Homebirth Australia and president of Homebirth NSW. Aimee is passionate about birth, breastfeeding and the environment, is a lover of the beach and bushland and is keen to see homebirth become an accessible, affordable birth option for all Australian women! When she's not busy mothering her 3 babies and keeping their household functioning you'll find her supporting women, (wo)maning the ABA helplines or campaigning for birth rights. www.birthaims.com.au

Josi Jentzsch

VIcE PRESIDENT & designer

By day I’m a fashion designer and at any other time I’m running after my son Zeppelin and our dog Ozzy. I am currently pregnant with my second child and cannot wait for our second homebirth sometime in June.  I also look after the Graphic Design for HBNSW. In my spare time I dream about having spare time. As long as I can remember I have always wanted a Homebirth. Little did I know what an uphill battle we would have. From crazy ultrasound technicians to referral refusals...I was shocked! My own birth experience, which was my dream come true, inspired me to join HBNSW. I wish everyone could have a beautiful private practising midwife like us. Janine was our constant for way over 9 months. She was there for all the laughs, tears and leaky boobs. I joined HBNSW because I want less mums having to fight for a beautiful Homebirth and more mums being able to make informed Choices. zthelabel.com.au/

Amelia Parkinson

SECRETARY

Solo mum to Sammy (8) I had an incredible publicly funded Homebirth in London and just didn’t realise how lucky I was to access this- 8 weeks before my due date although almost 10 weeks before I met my son. I moved back 5 years ago to Oz after 15 years in the Uk. My background is mental health, advocacy, fundraising and events. I’m a hypnobirthing, childbirth educator, birth and postpartum doula. I facilitate supportive new mums groups and have been running the Positive Birth Movement Meetings in inner West of Sydney for 4 years. I love swimming and going to the beach. www.wonderbirthing.com.au

Kathryn Bell

 SECRETARY & intern supervisor

I’m really happy to have recently joined the HBNSW committee as co-secretary. Our work is so important and it's awesome to be part of such a passionate team of women.
​I’m mum to two girls, Isla and Fern. It was Isla’s beautiful but challenging birth that opened my eyes to the maternity system, and set me on my path to become a doula in 2012. After years of ‘trying’, in 2016 our family grew to four with the birth of Fern at home. I love my work supporting couples in the hospital system but I dream of seeing more women realise the beautiful potential of home birth. I’m also a Hypnobirthing Australia™ childbirth educator. Nothing makes me happier than a day at the beach or pottering in the garden with my hubby and all ‘the girls’ (my kids, cat and 6 hens). www.kathrynbellbirthsupport.com.au

Santina Sannen

TREASURER

My background is Italian. I am currently working part-time doing admin work and have an accounting background. Arthur (Santina's husband who does our merchandising) was born in the Netherlands and is self-employed in the IT industry. Four years ago HAS needed someone to do the merchandising role and Arthur stepped in. Not too long after that I took on the Treasurer role. We sit quietly in the background doing our thing and admiring the advocacy work this wonderful group does. They are all so committed and work with such passion. Issue number 68 was the first Birthings magazine we saw. It was given to us by our midwife back in 1999 in the lead up to our first baby. We became members and have been ever since. We have three children (Adrian 20, Annelies 17 and Aileen 14) who were all born at home under the wonderful guidance of Marie Heath. We hope that one day homebirth in Australia will be an easily available and widely supported choice that all women have access to.

Kristyn Begnell

MEMBERSHIPS, Advocacy Coordinator & Midwife liaison

I'm mum to two gorgeous little girls, Georgia (5yo) and Bronte (2yo). I found my way to homebirth via a book I picked up at a 2nd hand book sale and I knew this was the path for me once I decided to have kids. I became involved in maternity consumer advocacy after my first planned homebirth ended in an emergency cesarean. I achieved my long awaited HBAC when my second daughter was born, and now that I know how amazing it is to give birth at home I'm more passionate about it than ever. I became involved with HBNSW because I wanted to do whatever I could to keep homebirth alive in Australia. I started a craftivism project called The Bunting for Birth Rights Project to raise awareness of birth trauma and obstetric violence. In my spare time I love adding to my indoor plant collection, ranting about causes dear to me and crafting (macrame, crochet and scrapbooking). www.facebook.com/buntingforbirthrights/

Claire Heenan

COMMUNICATIONS (Newsletter & blog)

Hi, I’m Claire! I joined the Homebirth NSW Committee recently in the Communications role. I am a doula working actively with women in the Sydney region, and I myself reside in the Blue Mountains. I love being on the committee as it provides me with an arena to effectively use my voice to advocate for women to have access to homebirth without financial and political barriers. I have worked as a high school teacher previously, and now facilitate Women’s Circles and Goddess Girls circles. In my spare time I am writing songs, playing with my daughter and our dog, and spending time in the bush. www.claireheenandoula.com.au/

AMY INNES

EVENTS

Amy Innes is a health-focused mama of 2 and the founder of the Healthy Happy Life Tribe who is committed to empowering women and their loved ones to live a low-tox healthy happy life. Amy is based in Sydney, Australia but supports many women globally with their health and wellness as she brings a combination of being a Blue Diamond doTERRA leader, certified health and mindset coach, and essential oil advocate. The skills and qualities that Amy has built allows her to be able to share her knowledge and love of leadership, mindfulness, easy recipes and essential oil tips with a special focus on naturally helping other mama’s. She empowers her tribe to live their most fulfilled, happy and healthy life - her passion for natural health is contagious! amyinnes.com/

Jodie Powell

Website Coordinator

Jodie Powell is our outgoing President and the coordinator for our new website! We thank Jodie for her ongoing commitment and dedication to Homebirth NSW and her vital advocacy work for home birthing families in Australia. 

Bonnie Hook

Editor (Birthings magazine)

Bonnie is a woman who has been captivated with pregnancy, labour and birth long before she became a mum to beautiful Ruben in February 2020. She lives in Coogee, as close to the ocean as humanly possible, because it is her happiest place. Bonnie has travelled extensively, living in developing countries pursuing her passion for exploring and experiencing other cultures with a lens of anthropology. Her passion for empowering women has led her on many exciting endeavours, and she is thrilled to now be in the birthing space contributing to creating a collective series of positive birthing stories.

MARINA TAYLOR-CLIFT ​

Associate editor

“Hi! I’m Marina Taylor. I’m a Blue Mountains based doula. I have 3 young children and a love for all things birth and pregnancy. I am especially passionate for homebirth seeing as I myself was one in the U.S. I’m so excited to join into this community and watch the power of homebirth rise in Australia. I’m looking forward to great things!” www.facebook.com/mountainwomanbirths/

Arthur Sannen

merchandising

Arthur was born in The Netherlands and is self-employed in the IT industry. Four years ago HAS needed someone to do the merchandising role and Arthur stepped in. Not too long after that his wife Santina took on the Treasurer role. "We sit quietly in the background doing our thing and admiring the advocacy work this wonderful group does. They are all so committed and work with such passion. Issue number 68 was the first Birthings magazine we saw. It was given to us by our midwife back in 1999 in the lead up to our first baby. We became members and have been ever since. We have three children (Adrian 20, Annelies 17 and Aileen 14) who were all born at home under the wonderful guidance of Marie Heath. We hope that one day homebirth in Australia will be an easily available and widely supported choice that all women have access to."

Amelie Patrux

Social media/marketing

Amelie joined HBNSW recently as she wanted to contribute to homebirth advocacy. With 10+ years of experience in communications and PR, she is assisting on social media. Aside from her office job, Amelie runs her own business as a Yoga Teacher and a Doula and is studying a Counselling degree, hoping in the long-term to support families and individuals in the process of becoming parents. She is passionate about sustainability and conscious living. In 2019, she started working in a ‘social doula’ capacity, with the Australian Doula College’s Groundwork Program, in collaboration with Family and Community Services NSW, offering individualised home education to vulnerable families. She also works with the She Births® childbirth education course as the coordinator of the Doula Support Program. Amelie is originally from France and South Africa but is now an Australian citizen. She loves supporting French families in Birth as she feels like being able to use your native language when giving birth is very important. https://feel-in-g.com/

Alicia Bennetts

Fundraising

Alicia is a Blue Mountains mother of 4, 2 of which were born gently at home. She dedicates her time to educating her children naturally and her role as a Doula. Her hobbies include painting, drawing and creating. Family time looks like bushwalks, camping, trips to the zoo, the museum or a farm stay.
She is passionate about empowering families to create a positive birthing environment, as well as offering new families support to soak in their new addition during the early postpartum period. www.facebook.com/The40DayDoula/

We Would Love to Hear From You!

Media

media@homebirthnsw.org.au

Memberships

memberships@homebirthnsw.org.au

Committee

admin@homebirthnsw.org.au

Birthings Magazine

editor@homebirthnsw.org.au

Homebirth NSW

president​@homebirthnsw.org.au

Events

events​@homebirthnsw.org.au