Having Amy’s presence and support was invaluable and played a major role in my ability to cope with my labour. I would highly recommend her to any pregnant woman." ~ Carolina

Hello, my name is Amy. As a Childbirth Doula, HypnoBirthing^® Childbirth Educator and Breastfeeding Counsellor, my aim is to provide each mother and her partner with the personalised care and support required to achieve their best possible birth outcomes. I am passionate about informing and empowering families about birth and parenting.

I believe that all babies and mothers deserve the absolute best possible start in life.

I believe that birthing a child is one of a woman's most important and memorable events in her life, and every woman deserves a positive, joyful experience rather than the traumatic event that is often retold or portrayed in the mass media.

I believe that with the proper information, encouragement, support and respect for their individual birth and parenting choices, each couple should be able to realise the best experiences that they can achieve.

As a mother of 3, I understand and empathise with the pregnancy, labour, birth and mothering experiences.

I have a wonderful and supportive husband, three gorgeous full-of-life children, a passion for what makes a baby healthy and happy, and a wealth of experience to share.

My professional background is in research, I received a first class honours and PhD in molecular biology from ANU. When my husband was posted to Singapore, I obtained a research fellowship at the National University of Singapore.

Soon we were expecting our first child. We were naive first-time parents, overseas on our own, and we were 'good patients'. The birth was a typical hospital, obstetrically-managed birth, and my son required time in the special care unit due to a bad reaction and fever from the drugs and forceps used during the labour. However, after a rocky start, breastfeeding was established, and I went on to become a breastfeeding counsellor, and then speaker and counsellor trainer with Singapore’s Breastfeeding Association.

With my second pregnancy, I decided that there must be a better way to birth, for both my sake and primarily for my baby’s sake, and I hired a doula. This time, as an informed and empowered birthing mother, I had a totally natural birth in one of the world's busiest maternity hospitals (quite a rare event, where every woman has an obstetrician and actively managed birth). I went to this hospital, mainly because my obstetrician wanted to see a completely natural birth. He missed the birth (as the labour was so easy and fast) but he has since gone on to become Singapore's leading natural birth and only homebirth doctor.

This birth was a life-changing event for me. I could see clearly the thin line between a bad and a good birthing and baby experience. I see how a negative birth can affect the family involved for the rest of their lives and how a positive birth can be empowering for the mother, enthralling for the father, ideal for the baby and add to the family in so many untold ways.

Following the natural high of this birth (which lasted weeks!), I decided to change careers and become a doula myself, training with the precursor of Childbirth International. My first doula role was for a friend, and although the birth was in a teaching hospital, the baby was born completely naturally and in the caul - very lucky! 

In 2001 I founded Four Trimesters, which has grown to become the leading HypnoBirthing Institute in Asia, supporting over 250 births and teaching antenatal classes to over 500 couples.

I have since supported many more mothers including first-time mothers and mothers who have had VBACs (vaginal birth after caesarian), multiple babies, caesarians, breech, and births at hospital and at home. I have taught antenatal, postnatal and parenting, breastfeeding, baby massage, elimination communication (natural infant hygiene) and babywearing classes.

When our family was transferred from Singapore with my husband's work, I continued to support families in London, then Copenhagen. While living in Copenhagen, I was an invited 'baby expert' on the "Richard and Judy Show", prime time live to 5 million viewers in the UK.

For my third birth, I chose an unassisted homebirth, with only my husband and 2 children present, which for the family was an incredibly bonding, moving – and humorous - experience.

I have been personally taught or mentored by such birth and parenting legends such as Marie Mongan (founder of the HypnoBirthing^® Institute), Michel Odent, Sue Cox, Sarah Buckley, Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Lawrence Gartner (Chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Breast-Feeding Section) and Doris Fok (first IBCLC in Asia). I have appeared in many books and websites including "Adventures in Tandem Nursing", "Close to Mama's Heart", "Breastfeeding Older Children", and Kellymom.com. I have also written for or been featured in various parenting magazines and also national daily newspapers. 

Now that our travelling days are over and we are settled back in my hometown of Canberra, I am keen to teach and share my knowledge about birth; that women's bodies are designed to birth their baby naturally, and that with the right information, tools and resources birth can be safe, comfortable, easy, short and relaxed for both the mother and baby. I consider it an honour to meet couples at this special time of their lives, to teach and support, and attend at their births and fourth trimester.

Warmly, Amy Chin-Atkins, PhD

Images on this page courtesy of Natalie Bice Photography.