‘Breech,’ Ava breathed as she caught Zac’s eye, and Zac frowned worriedly at her. Be calm, she told him with her eyes. ‘All the spontaneous ones I’ve seen had no complications, so let’s keep it like that,’ she said softly. Zac’s eyes still held concern, though, so she said quietly in an aside, ‘Good thing I did a refresher in Sydney. Allow the presence of trust,’ she said, repeating the mantra they’d pushed at the course and smiling at him. To Jill she said, ‘We’ll let mum and baby do the work, but get ready for a baby, Jill.’

Nurse Jill’s fingers shook, but she handed Ava and Zac a pair of gloves each from the pack beside the day bed. ‘I’ll phone for the RFDS.’

‘No.’ Jessamine shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. The young woman turned her head to look at Ava. ‘I shoulda come yesterday.’ Ava had been to see Jessamine again yesterday, but hadn’t been able to cajole her into allowing an examination.

‘We talked,’ Ava soothed her. ‘You and Denise did well coming here today. And Jill will call the RFDS to pick you up so they can make sure you and baby stay okay.’

Jessamine shook her head and glanced at the door as if she was going to run away. ‘You can ring ’em. But we’re not goin’ on that plane.’

Ava guessed something had happened to Jessamine or one of her family to cause this fear of hospitals or aircraft, but they didn’t have time to find out now. They needed to be calm for the next stage. ‘I hear you. We won’t worry about that yet.’ Ava met Jessamine’s eyes and said quietly, ‘Nurse Jill has to ring so they know we might need help. I understand you don’t want to leave country. We’ll talk later when you’re not so busy.’

Zac peered around the now crowded room. ‘How did you get here, Jessamine?’

‘I walked. That’s how I saw Denise.’

‘It’s a good thing to walk,’ Ava said gently. ‘Most breech babies curl themselves into a ball and sort themselves out. Movement helps that.’ She turned to Denise. ‘What about her man’s mum? She not here with you?’

This time Jessamine narrowed her eyes. ‘I didn’t tell anyone. She’ll be mad I didn’t come in after you left yesterday. We don’t get on too good.’

Better she’s not here, then, Ava thought philosophically. Emotional friction didn’t go with birth. She repeated, ‘Walking through labour is good. Really good because your baby is almost here.’