Busfare Babies Birth Centre is situated in Hamburg village, Peddie in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It offers an innovative style of accessible, affordable maternity care for rural women in this area. Prior to the birth centre being established, women in labour had to travel at least 60km to receive care. The lack of vehicles, with labour often occurring at night or over weekends, and ambulances taking up to 8 hours to arrive, amounted to no care being available to these women.

Busfare Babies offers a solution by bringing the midwife to the women. Nomvula has started her training to become our first rural midwife ( through the NARM African Pilot Project) and we plan to train more women in the community to support women in labour.

By caring for a woman through her pregnancy , birth and into motherhood, a midwife has a unique opportunity which can have a positive influence on how a woman enters motherhood.

Women who give birth to their babies in a supportive environment without unnecessary interference and with a caring and careful midwife, walk away from the experience feeling empowered and more able to deal with the demands of motherhood.

Healthy, happy mothers and babies are a benefit to any community.

The Busfare Babies model is simple and replicable and the hope is to create more birth centres around South Africa to serve rural populations