The 900 midwives who work at Mater Mothers all love babies – but Charmaine loves them more than most!

The 42-year-old has a bumper brood of nine children and decided that midwifery was the job for her after she gave birth to baby number eight.

“I had always wanted to be a midwife, but because I started my family when I was young I thought I had missed the boat,” Charmaine said.

“But after I had my second last baby I decided to take the plunge and start studying while raising my family – and I just fell in love with it.

“It was definitely a juggle, but the kids were very supportive because they saw that it made me happy.

“Qualifying as a midwife is my next best achievement after my children. This is definitely the right job for me!” 

As well as being mum to Te’a (25), Mikayla (24), Brayden (22), Lincoln (20) Rene’e (19), Ryan (16), Olivia (14), Charlotte (13 ) and Brooklyn (12), Charmaine is also gran to Micah (5) and nine-week-old Hudson. 

“I certainly didn’t set out to have nine kids, but I’m very blessed to have them,” Charmaine said.

“I would say ‘This is the last one’ after having a baby, but then I’d start thinking ‘Oh, OK, maybe not the last one!’

“I mostly had very easy pregnancies and births, which helped, and the more children I had the easier that post-natal period became.

“Raising a big family is all about organised chaos. You have to have processes – making school lunches is like drill camp! – but you can’t sweat the small stuff.” 

Charmaine, who previously ran a Subway franchise, says her experience of motherhood had been a big help in her role as a midwife at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital in South Brisbane.

“It's really helped me relate to women throughout their pregnancies and birth, but especially post-natally,” she said.

“I know how tricky it is when you have a baby and are juggling toddlers, life and everything else that comes with it – but I never put my journey into theirs because everybody's journey is different.”

Charmaine insists she has “definitely no” plans for a 10th baby and is now looking forward to having more grandchildren. She was in the delivery room at Mater Mothers’ Hospital nine weeks ago when daughter Mikayla gave birth to her first baby, Hudson.

“It was probably one of the most magical births I’ve ever been at,” Charmaine said.

“I was trying really hard to be a support for Mikayla and not a midwife – but it was hard! 

“Seeing your daughter transition into being a mum is a pretty spectacular experience.”

Daughter Mikayla was happy and proud to have her mum by her side on her own journey into motherhood.

“Mum was my main support through my birth and it was super special having her with me,” she said.

“Everything that I implement with my own son I’ve learnt from my mum – I have next-level appreciation for her. I couldn’t imagine doing it nine times over – my mum is amazing.”