In this heartfelt interview for Mystic Mag, Virginia Maddock shares her journey from a globe-trotting herbalist to a deeply rooted practitioner of natural health and birth work. Drawing on her personal experiences with conscious conception, homebirth, and holistic healing, Virginia offers a powerful, integrated approach that supports families from fertility through postpartum—infused with intuition, spiritual guidance, and unwavering care.
What inspired your transition from a diverse, travel-filled life to dedicating yourself fully to natural health and birth work?
My love for travel started after I studied herbal medicine which I completed in 2000, and I eventually reached a point where I felt the need to put down roots and build a more stable career. After completing further studies in herbs, iridology and nutrition, I began looking for a clinic space to start my private practice. I knew I wanted to focus on fertility, pregnancy, and supporting children, and I was really fortunate to find a space to share with an acupuncturist at Birthing Rites Australia – a centre that also hosted childbirth classes that attracted many pregnant women.
I didn’t realize at the time how pivotal this next step would be. The centre’s founder, Marie Burrows (RIP), was not only a legend in the birth world and a psychotherapist, but she also taught the doula course offered there. I had never even heard the word “doula” before meeting her and had to ask her what it meant, but as soon as she explained it, I felt an immediate calling and knew I’d be signing up for the next course.
Becoming a doula in 2006 quickly became a central part of my life’s work, and with Marie as my mentor and guiding light, her influence deeply shaped both my professional path and personal growth.
Three years later, I began my own journey into motherhood. By then, I had built a strong foundation in natural fertility, pregnancy, and birth work, so I felt really clear about how and where I wanted to birth my own children and how I would raise them in a natural way.
How do your skills as a Herbalist, Nutritionist, and Doula come together to create a holistic experience for the families you support?
My work offers true continuity of care for women and families who are looking for a more natural, holistic approach to health – starting before conception through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and into family life. Because I’ve been on this journey myself, I can meet women where they’re at with empathy and offer guidance that’s both grounded and practical.
Each of my skill sets plays a unique role using herbal medicine, nutrition, and doula support which all come together to help with things like fertility challenges, pregnancy conditions, birth preparation, and family health. Whether it’s using herbs to support hormone balance, nutrition to boost energy and healing, or emotional support during labour, it’s all interconnected.
I love being a kind of “one-stop shop” for women during this transformative phase of their life. It means they don’t have to bounce between multiple practitioners, and they can get support for their mind, body, and spirit in one place, from someone who understands the full picture.
Can you share how workshops like Beer & Bubs are helping to reshape the role of fathers in childbirth?
Historically, fathers often had a distant or passive role in childbirth, pacing hospital corridors or waiting at the pub for news, rather than being actively involved. Even when they were eventually welcomed into the birthing room, many were treated as bystanders rather than participants, often feeling excluded or like an inconvenience to hospital staff. The Beer & Bubs workshops I run are helping to change that narrative. These sessions empower dads-to-be to step into a more engaged and supportive role during labour and birth. After all, they played a part in creating the baby, and they can play a powerful role in bringing the baby into the world too. The class focuses on teaching them how crucial their presence and support can be – physically and emotionally, through every stage of their partner’s labour.
When men are equipped with knowledge, pain support techniques, and the confidence to advocate for their partner’s birth preferences, they tend to feel more calm and capable. That calm energy can have a ripple effect on their partner, helping her feel more supported, which can positively influence the hormones that help facilitate labour.
Holding the workshops in a relaxed pub environment helps men feel at ease, making it easier for them to ask the questions they might not feel comfortable raising with their partner or health professionals. And research shows that dads who are actively involved in the birth of their children often form stronger early bonds, so this kind of targeted, dad-specific education has the potential to benefit the whole family long after the birth.
How has your own experience with natural conception and homebirth influenced the way you support other women?
I suffered a childhood full of ill health with recurrent asthma and chronic bronchitis, with regular Drs visits and pharmaceutical drugs, and that was the last thing I wanted for my children. Then when I was studying natural health in my 20s, I picked up a pamphlet somewhere that was all about natural fertility and I kept it in a folder for many years, possibly before I even met my husband. So I knew way ahead of time that natural, conscious conception was how I wanted to create my children.
After months of preconception detoxing and preparation, my husband and I consciously conceived our 2 sons and I birthed each of them at home with a private midwife. I knew that we had made the right choice because my births were so empowering, + our kids have not suffered the same sick and medicalised childhood as I had growing up.
Using my experience to help other couples conceive, grow and nurture healthy babies, and supporting natural birth at home feels like passing on a gift that benefited me so much!
In what ways have practices like angel messaging and intuitive guidance deepened your approach to pregnancy and postpartum care?
Through the wisdom of my spiritual mentors, my own intuitive growth, and the guidance of the angels, I’ve come to understand that we each incarnate on Earth with a soul mission. Every experience, especially the challenging ones, unfolds in perfect divine timing to help us evolve and learn the lessons our soul seeks. This mirrors the birth process so beautifully: a journey through intensity and surrender that ultimately leads to profound transformation.
This perspective has deepened my trust in my intuition and divine guidance, and it’s become the foundation of how I support women, helping them reconnect with their inner wisdom as they navigate pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
These transitions are deeply powerful, yet often overshadowed by fear within the mainstream medical system, which can undermine a woman’s confidence. But when she’s encouraged to trust her body, her baby, and her instincts, that trust becomes her anchor, nurturing confidence not just in birth, but throughout her mothering journey.
