About Us

Obstetrician

Dr Emily Roman

Emily Roman is a specialist Obstetrician who is lucky enough to be working in her dream job and brings that enthusiasm to her work every day. She is passionate about providing high quality, truly individualised care that is not only physically safe for Mums and babies but also psychologically safe. She believes that women of all risk levels benefit from continuity of Midwifery care so has created a comprehensive high quality model of care at ‘The Nest’ where all women enjoy continuity of care from both Obstetric and Midwifery professionals. 

Emily studied Medicine at the University of Newcastle. During her undergraduate training she took every opportunity to bend the curriculum towards Obstetrics including completing elective terms with a private home birth midwife, a rural GP obstetrician and a term at Nepean Hospital studying the needs of urban Indigenous women in pregnancy and birth. In her university holidays she completed the 4 year John Flynn Scholarship at Alukura – an Indigenous Women’s health centre in Alice Springs.  

As a junior doctor, Emily’s passion/obsession with Obstetrics only grew as she completed 4 rotations through Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 

After completing an Advanced Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Emily then embarked on the rigorous 6 year FRANZCOG training program to become a specialist Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. During her Advanced training Emily spent two years in the busy Maternal Fetal Medicine Department at John Hunter Hospital gaining invaluable experience in managing the highest risk pregnancies and in Tertiary level Obstetric ultrasound. Emily is now completing her Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound to formalise her advanced ultrasound skills. 

Emily works as a Staff Specialist in Obstetrics at John Hunter Hospital and Moree Hospital and a Visiting Medical Officer at Maitland Hospital. She is the supervisor for all Interns and Resident Medical officers rotating through the John Hunter Hospital O&G department and is the Obstetric lead for the Belmont Midwifery Group Practice. 

Emily lives and breathes Obstetrics and is a passionate lifelong learner/birth nerd. In her spare time (lol) she juggles three amazing children, a fruit vegetable and berry garden, a Labradoodle and two cats, rides her e-bike and practices yoga. 

Midwife

Alicia Faul

Alicia is a Registered Nurse and Midwife with 19 years experience working in local maternity settings. During those years she has supported women and families across all areas of maternity care including antenatal, birthing, postnatal, special care nursery and community settings.

Alicia is a passionate advocate for birthing people having access to known care providers in pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period, promoting relationship-based care that is personalised, informed, compassionate and focused on each individual’s beliefs, background and personal circumstances.

A firm belief that birth holds the potential to be a transformative and empowering event in a woman’s life, which will influence her sense of self and her approach to mothering is what drives Alicia in her Midwifery practice every day.

When not at work Alicia enjoys time with her family, being in nature, good food and a well-made margarita.

Midwife & Lactation Consultant

Caroline Le Breton

Caroline started her nursing career at the age of 18 working in disability and aged care, and after having her second son she knew that midwifery was where her heart lay. She did her Bachelor of Nursing in 2003 followed by her Graduate Diploma in Midwifery in 2005 and then worked in the western suburbs of Sydney in a busy tertiary hospital. She quickly realised she had a passion for lactation and became an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant in 2009, and has spent many years supporting new parents, in a variety of positions including lactation and education roles.

In 2016 she moved to the Newcastle area and began working as a midwife in delivery suite. Throughout her career she has worked in the antenatal, postnatal and birthing environments as a midwife and providing lactation support.

Caroline has a love of travelling and discovering new cultures and this led to her volunteering in Papua New Guinea as a midwife on a medical ship in 2018, where she cared for women in extremely remote areas, with limited electricity, water and supplies. Exploring this beautiful country and seeing how women and families survive with limited resources has made her passionate about holistic women centred care.

Caroline is passionate about providing support to all families, particularly in lactation – whether it is during the antenatal or postpartum period.

Outside of work, Caroline enjoys going to the beach, spending time with family and friends and especially loves riding her bike to discover all those fabulous areas of Newcastle that only a bike can find!

Midwife & Childbirth Educator

Maja Batista

Maja completed her Midwifery training in Germany in 2005. She has worked as a community midwife in Frankfurt, a hospital based midwife in Dublin, a birth centre midwife in Sydney and now as a birth centre midwife at John Hunter Hospital.

Maja is an experienced birth and Parenting Educator, she has been teaching classes for the last 12 years as well as pregnancy yoga classes. Maja has been a registered Calmbirth Educator since 2017 and proudly facilitated the Rainbow Family antenatal classes when living in Sydney.

Maja feels privileged to be a part of the midwifery community and has a strong belief that birth should be a positive experience for the birthing person and their family.

She is passionate about quality education and feels strongly that good quality birth preparation is key to feeling empowered through birth and the impact this has on the woman, her partner and their early parenting journey.

Maja is looking forward to bringing her skills, expertise and cheeky German humour to The Nest in her role providing Birth Preparation and Early Parenting Education classes.

Midwife

Rachel Brooks

Rachel Graduated from University of Central Lancashire as a qualified midwife in UK in 2005 where she gained experience in all aspects of midwifery care including homebirths, stand alone birth center caseload care and also worked in a large referral hospital. 

Rachel emigrated to Australia in 2011, worked for 8 years in a tertiary hospital in Sydney in the birth center as well as a birth suite Clinical Lead Midwife and Birth Suite Educator. Whilst in Sydney, Rachel completed a Masters in Education, Learning and Leadership to grow in her knowledge and passion for teaching future midwives and being a midwifery leader. She now works as a Midwifery Manager and Clinical Lead Midwife at John Hunter Hospital.

Rachel and her family moved to Newcastle in November 2019 and love living on the coast. Her wife and 2 children are often on their bikes around the city and love hanging out at the beach and walking their labradoodle. 

Rachel believes strongly in helping women make informed decisions about their care and is a strong advocate for continuity of care models. She believes that with a trusted Care provider and good birth preparation women and their partners should feel safe, confident and empowered by their pregnancy, birth and early parenting journeys.