Through the use of virtual technology, WA Country Health Service’s popular Telehealth Childbirth and Parenting Education program has transformed access to essential perinatal education across country WA.
The free midwife-led program delivers comprehensive, evidence-based sessions over four weeks, tailored to the unique needs of country families.
The program has been named a finalist in the 2025 WA Health Excellence Awards thanks to the amazing team at WACHS, who make it all happen.
It’s a proudly significant moment for families across regional Western Australia — WA Country Health Service (WACHS) telehealth antenatal offering has now supported over 14,000 expectant women and their birth partners through its virtual classes. wacountry.health.wa.gov.au
Launched five years ago during the height of COVID-19 restrictions, the virtual classes are part of the celebrated Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program — redefining how prenatal education is delivered across “the bush.”
🌐 What Telehealth Has Achieved
According to WACHS Clinical Midwifery Specialist and Parent Education Coordinator, Kasey Biggar, offering classes online has “opened up a whole new world” for regional patients and staff.
By removing longstanding barriers such as travel distance, cost and time, telehealth has enabled expectant parents in remote or rural areas to access antenatal education that might otherwise have been out of reach.
In turn, maternity teams in regional areas have been able to build their skills, confidence and even expand in-person parent-education sessions in communities where none existed before.
What the Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program Offers
The Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program — available via telehealth and in-person — delivers a comprehensive, 4-week, evidence-based childbirth education course. It guides expectant parents through:
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- Preparing for various birth options (natural birth, assisted birth, caesarean section)
- Breathing and deep relaxation techniques, birth-care planning, labour and birth preparation, and breastfeeding education.
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Importantly, this isn’t just anecdote: a recent peer-reviewed study — “Childbirth and parenting education via telehealth: A two-phased cross-sectional exploration of rural and remote stakeholders’ perceptions and experiences” (published in the journal Women and Birth, May 2025) — evaluated the Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program’s delivery via telehealth across rural and remote regions.
The study found:
✔️ 40% of participants said they wouldn’t have attended childbirth and parenting education if telehealth wasn’t available
✔️ 25.6% saved more than AUD $500 by accessing online classes
✔️ 73% of clinicians indicated telehealth helped them manage workloads more effectively.
The paper also reported that participants described the telehealth program — i.e. the Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program — as highly engaging, practical, evidence-based and supportive of both expectant parents and their birth partners.
Why This Matters — And What Families Are Saying
Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. WACHS reports a 98% positive feedback rate for their programs.
One mother from WA’s Goldfields region reflected on her experience at the Esperance hospital course: she and her partner felt “informed and comfortable,” praising the midwives as “professional, knowledgeable and compassionate.”
More broadly, many families say that the telehealth option gave them the opportunity to connect, learn, and prepare for birth in a way that felt empowering — regardless of where they live, how far they are from a hospital, or their personal circumstances.
Ms Biggar notes that while face-to-face classes remain valuable, telehealth delivery has become essential — it underpins what she calls “gold standard” parent education and supports building a stronger culture of inclusive, evidence-based, woman-centred care across country WA.
Congratulations to WACHS and the entire Hypnobirthing Australia™ Positive Birth Program team — this milestone is a testament to the power of innovation, compassion and commitment to maternal care.
For more information on WACHS Classes, visit: https://hypnobirthingaustralia.com.au/wachs-classes/
