Ah. Ava suspected the reason for the concern on Denise’s face. Perhaps it was the woman the maternity ward had mentioned? ‘Is this Big Jim’s partner? The young woman that’s come down from up north? About eighteen and pregnant? None of the midwives have managed to catch her at any of their outreach visits. They asked me in Alice if I could look out for her.’

Denise nodded and some of the tension left her. ‘That’s her. Jessamine. So pleased you’ve heard of her. Nobody knows when she’s due to go to the hostel in Alice. I’m thinking very soon, so I’m glad you’re here. I spoke to her the other day and I think she’s terrified of labour or something. She needs to talk to you.’ Denise shrugged and smiled. They’d had a few discussions about Denise’s two past births. ‘I also think she could be due pretty soon.’

Ava hadn’t heard this. ‘What makes you say that?’

‘One of the other girls told me she wants to have her baby born on country for Jim.’

They both knew that most of the mums and aunties agreed with the health authorities that it was safer if their babies were born in Alice Springs. ‘Has she got anyone on her side?’ The elders added their weight to the health directives and did well to encourage the women that it was better to go home with a baby afterwards than have a problem at home and need help that took too long to arrive.

Ava understood it wasn’t easy for a displaced young woman to leave her new family or the father of her child and wait alone in a big town like Alice. And if she was new to the area, it would be unlikely she’d know any of the other women. Without her own midwife champion, the hospital could be unaware of other fears she had.

Ava knew that Hana wished she didn’t have to wait in town either, but Jock would go with her, so she’d have someone to support her and she wouldn’t be alone. But the men from the communities usually didn’t go with the women because it wasn’t their way. More often a mum or aunty would be there for the birth if they could be.

‘Anyway,’ Denise said quietly, ‘she dreamed the baby is a boy. So now Big Jim says maybe he should be born on ancestral land in the old women’s camp like his dad. Get some of the old aunties to help. Then the baby could be smoked here. So when he grows up he can say he was born on country.’ Denise shrugged, but Ava could tell she was worried. ‘I think it also has to do with Jessamine being new. She wants her baby to belong.’