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A BENDIGO mum who gave birth to her second child on the side of the Midland Highway near Harcourt has described having a "relaxed roadside birth".
Corinne Cinatl, 29, gave birth to daughter Matilda in the passenger seat of the family car on the morning of May 21 while en route to Castlemaine Hospital with her husband Mishi and three-year-old son, Charlie.
The family was forced to pull over about 20 minutes from Castlemaine at Barkers Creek when Matilda decided she was coming early.
But Mrs Cinatl, who teaches a type of natural birthing known as 'hypno birthing', said she wasn't at all phased by having to pull over to the side of the road, or the cars and trucks rushing past while she was giving birth.
"Even when I told my husband to pull over, it wasn’t a frantic: ‘Quick, we need to pull over’. It was: ‘You need to pull over now, I can feel the head’. It was just very matter of fact," she said.
Even when I told my husband to pull over it wasn’t a frantic ‘quick we need to pull over’
- Corinne Cinatl
What did come as a surprise to Corinne was that the entire event was captured on camera by her birth photographer Breanna Gravener.
Ms Gravener's pictures and the story of Matilda's arrival have attracted world attention, appearing on the Daily Mail website in the United Kingdom and media outlets in Germany, Czech Republic and Asia.
"I had no idea Breanna was there until after Matilda was born," Corinne said.
Ms Gravener said the original plan was to meet at the hospital but she thought she would drop past their house in Golden Square, just in case.
"They were just hopping in the car and driving off just as I was there, so I just followed them," she said.
"As soon as the car pulled over I realised what must be happening.
"There was not a second to lose, I grabbed my camera, ran round to the side and was clicking immediately."
Mrs Cinatl said she had used her training from hypno birthing to stay relaxed during the birth and "hence why I had such a relaxed roadside birth".
She said there was nothing uncommon about giving birth in unusual places.
"People do it all the time, it’s actually just a really normal occurrence, perhaps not the fact it’s in a car, but lots of people give birth in so many different places around the world and it’s just another place to give birth really," she said.
Mishi drove Corinne and Matilda to Castlemaine Hospital straight after the birth.
Mother and daughter were discharged from hospital five hours later.
Footnote: For more about birth photographer Breanna Gravener visit www.thebirthstory.com.au