Deborah Ralph is a paediatric nurse and midwife working at Australia’s only medical practice operated by The Benevolent Society.

Deborah worked in paediatrics for about 20 years and then in midwifery for 15 years and in November began work with the Women’s Health and Mother Baby Hub in Strathpine, Queensland.

“It’s a wonderful concept and it has something for everybody – I really enjoy it,” she said.

“We are looking after mothers and their babies – it’s a holistic approach.

“It’s starting them on their life journey. You see the babies when they are just born…and it’s lovely to interact with mums on another level.

“You can see their growth and they don’t often realise how strong they are.”

The hub was established due to a need for more community-based services supporting the ante and post natal needs of mothers and families and to help support women vulnerable to post natal depression.

The Society took over the hub from the original owners in 2010 and now offers tailored medical services including GPs, nursing and midwifery, infant care, psychology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, along with a range of free support programs, wellness services and parenting classes.

The hub has added new GPs and allied health staff, along with Deborah’s position, in the past year and now provides services for more than 300 patients a month.

With a limited marketing budget, the hub’s business development manager Renee Veldman-Tentori said utilising social media had enabled the practice to communicate with mums across a broad geographical area.

The hub launched a Facebook page (at www.facebook.com/motherbabyhub) early last year, which has grown to over 1100 followers.

“Overall, we are a very unique social enterprise, which offer great services to local families but with a limited budget it can sometimes be hard to get the word out,” she said.

“Social media has been a great help here. It has also been a wonderful way to gain interaction and is heavily used by our main target market - local mums.”