TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Introduction

Hey there! This website, www.amamaisborn.com.au, is owned and operated by Rachael Flack. A Mama Is Born is the registered trading name for a small business based in Seaford, Victoria, Australia, ABN: 93953295642

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact me at rachael@amamaisborn.com.au.

This document sets out the Terms and Conditions you need to be aware of when using this website or purchasing from me. Please take a moment to read it, as it sets out the terms of our relationship so that we may both benefit from clear boundaries and knowing what to expect from each other. This responsibility is taken very seriously, so if you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

When you visit this website, use my services or purchase my products you agree that you are over the age of 18 and willing to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you don’t agree, you should not continue to visit this website or purchase from me

This document may be changed or modified from time to time. Please check back regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes.

There may be additional specific terms of agreement provided to you in relation to my counselling or doula care. If there is any inconsistency between this document and those specific terms of agreement, these Website Terms & Conditions are overruled to the extent of the inconsistency.

All products and services advertised on this website are offered in compliance with Australian Consumer Law.

Content Disclaimer

On this website and in my social media accounts, I provide information about all aspects of motherhood. Included but not limited to assisted conception, pregnancy and infant loss, pregnancy, postpartum and early parenting. I also occasionally share my own personal experiences of my motherhood journey. This may include images of myself and my family.

Content Policy

This content is provided solely for the purpose of education, support and professional and personal development. The intention for sharing is to support you in what ever stage you are in your motherhood journey. I want to equip you with both evidenced based information and personal experience to help normalise a full range of motherhood experiences.

I take lots of care to provide valuable information but I cannot be responsible for the use that you make of that information. Please be aware that the generalised information provided is not a substitute for specialist advice tailored to your individual circumstances. Please seek medical and specialist opinion if needed.

There is no professional relationship formed by your visit to my website unless you explicitly choose to work with me by purchasing my services or products.

Any testimonials I may display on this website are based on my experience and those of my previous clients. They are not guarantees that anyone else will achieve the same results.

While I take all reasonable care to ensure that the information I provide is accurate, relevant and up to date, I make no guarantees in this regard and disclaim any legal liability for any inaccuracy, incompleteness or error. If you find something that seems problematic, it would be very helpful if you let me know! I may modify the content provided on this website at any time, including altering or deleting it without notice.

Visitor Responsibilities

You are responsible for your own safety and well-being while browsing the internet. The information I provide in my content is for the sole purpose of sharing knowledge, education, personal experience and support. The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice and treatment. Nor should it be used to make major life decisions without first seeking independent, appropriately qualified professional advice specific to your individual need.

Downloads

This site may offer paid and free downloads to support you. While every effort is made to ensure these downloads are safe and hassle free, I am not responsible for any viruses or other damage which might occur as a result of you downloading material from this site. Please make safety your priority and ensure you have adequate protection against viruses and other malicious attacks that may occur without my knowledge or consent

External Links

In some situations (like event bookings) I may provide links to external sites. I have no control over the information provided on these sites, and the links are solely for your information, education or entertainment.

Disclaimer for Services and Products

There are a number of ways you may choose to work with me that are available to purchase or book through my website. The terms and conditions in this document apply to all of my services and products unless alternative terms are explicitly provided to you.

I offer personalised in-person, in-home and virtual support sessions and packages to individuals. These packages and sessions range from support with assisted conception, pregnancy and infant loss, postpartum and early parenting. I offer hampers with products to assist mothers after a loss of a pregnancy or infant. There are also products that can be sold separately to enhance the hampers or as single items. I offer downloadable documents through my website for postpartum planning purposes. I facilitate group events for mothers, and expectant mothers. Some of these are paid for by the consumer, others I volunteer my time and expertise. I also provide individual perinatal counselling in-person or via Telehealth.

My intention in offering these services/products is to support mothers and families during the full scope of motherhood experiences. These supports and the mothercare I provide is to support you in finding joy, and living by your values through every season of motherhood.

Why Work with Me?

I have been an accredited social worker for over 15 years. I also have completed further study and training in assisted fertility, pregnancy and infant loss, postpartum care, perinatal and infant mental health and motherhood studies.

My role is to provide emotional, practical and informational support to individual’s and families through all stages of motherhood, from assisted conception to early parenting. I endeavour to provide non-judgemental support that is evidenced base. I will encourage you to harness your own intuition and will not make decisions on your behalf. I am committed to ongoing professional development, membership with the appropriate professional bodies (AASW) and completing peer and one-to-one supervision and support.

Your Responsibility

There is a lot of information shared especially in the baby and motherhood paradigm. I encourage you to seek appropriate evidenced based information from the relevant professionals that relate to your current need. If you work with me or read my content, I expect you to make an informed decision on what actions you take. If you choose to purchase or consume information I share, I wish for you to read it with a curious mind and open heart. I would want you to be honest, but kind with any feedback or questions you have about what I have to offer you in way of content or services.

Important Information

I am both a professional here to support you, but I am also a human and a mother. While I do my best to be available and flexible with my support and time, in reality, I am only one (very busy) person. Working with me, and implementing the supports I provide can take time and patience. I also can only provide you with the support and information. I cannot guarantee, the outcome you want to achieve. But I certainly will do all that I can to best help you meet your wishes and expectations.

For clients working with me, I invite you to try and be open minded and flexible with your thinking and actions. I ask you to be brave and try new things, which might be asking for help from your village of support. I also encourage you to think critically about generational imprints, familiar beliefs, cultural beliefs and how they may impact your situation. If you can be open to critically thinking about all these inputs and imprints, it will give you a better chance of achieving the outcome you are hoping for. I will always relate to you with honesty and integrity. I expect that you would show the same towards me.

My direct client work (including group events) can be intimate and very personal. It may raise issues that you didn’t expect to surface. Deep emotional work, especially during vulnerable life moments like post birth can be emotionally triggering. Please know that I will hold space for you deeply with an open mind. I will also let you know if I feel you could do with more support outside of what I can provide.

In regards to my physical products, I choose these products from trusted, mostly local businesses. I make the best effort for it to meet your expectations and for it to arrive to you as you expected. However, I am only human, and if this does not occur, please get in touch with me to discuss it.

I offer a range of supports from several different professional backgrounds. My scope of practice will always remain within those scopes of practice. I will suggest referring on, if it is an area that I am not trained or practicing in. For example I do not attend births, but can suggest local birth doulas if that is what you are needing.

If any medical or significant mental health concerns arise, I strongly recommend you seek advice from your care provider.

I provide support to anyone who is trying to become a mother or who already is a mother. This may include people trying to conceive, those who have had a pregnancy or infant loss (including TFMR & abortion), newborn mothers, single by choice mothers, same sex relationship mothers, birthing and non birthing mothers, mothers early in parenting.

While I advocate that mothers are supported by their village, I do not solely work with partners or extended family members as stand alone support.

Limitation of Liability

If a group event, home visit or call was unable to go ahead due to illness, personal reasons or state mandates, I would reschedule the appointment. If a product was unavailable/inappropriate for a hamper I would offer an alternative replacement product.

I take my obligations under Australian Consumer Law seriously and will do my best to address any issues that arise. However, even if there is a major problem, my liability is strictly limited to: – replacing the goods or providing the services again; or – if I am unable to do so within a reasonable time, paying the cost of having the relevant goods or services supplied to you again.

If you feel that there is any problem with your purchase of products, please let me know within 24 hours. If there is any concerns about my professional in-person or virtual support to you, please inform me in writing and we can make time to discuss it as well. I am keen to understand what has gone wrong if you are unhappy so that I can address your concerns and try to find a mutually acceptable solution.

I do not make any guarantees or warranties about the accuracy of any material displayed on this website, with the exception of any non-excludable consumer guarantees and other consumer protection provisions set out in the Australian Consumer Law.

I am human and errors creep in despite the best of intentions. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, please let me know.

While I make all reasonable efforts to ensure that this website and my services/products meet with the highest standards of best practice, if something does go wrong that is not a direct result of my negligence, misrepresentation or deliberate fault, you agree that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, I will not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of or related to my website, any products or services purchased through it, or any material posted on it, irrespective of whether such damages were foreseeable, and regardless of the nature of the claim

You take full responsibility for your implementation of any suggestions that I may make while providing my services. You understand that my advice is limited to providing you with options for your consideration, and that you are solely responsible for any actions that you choose to take. Always consult your own values and vision, do your own research, and check with appropriately qualified professionals before making major decisions or making significant changes. You agree to indemnify me against all consequences arising directly or indirectly from your choices.

You expressly agree that if this limitation of liability is unenforceable for any reason, my total cumulative liability for all causes of action of any kind shall not exceed the amount that you have paid to me for my products/services.

Intellectual Property

Copyright

You may store, print and display the publicly available content supplied solely for your own personal use.

Commercial exploitation of my content in any way that competes with my business is strictly prohibited.

You are welcome to share blog posts or other publicly available content through social media, but you must provide a link back to this website.

You may link to my home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage my reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on my part where none exists.

Trade Marks

I own the unregistered trademark A mama is born displayed on this website. These trade marks whether registered or unregistered, may not be used in connection with any other product or service without a licence, or in any way that is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace, or in any manner that disparages me or my business.

Payment Terms

The items under my shop tab are all paid for at the time of purchase. For all other services I email an invoice which needs to be paid for on the scheduled date on the invoice. I will send a reminder one week before the invoice amount is due. If there is no payment I will attempt to contact you to confirm that you want my services to go ahead. I will not complete a home visit until the invoiced amount is paid. For package clients, cancellation of entire package will incur cancellations fee as outlined in agreement.

For in-person counselling services, you will be invoiced after our appointment and required to pay within 7 days. It is your responsibility to make a Medicare claim if you are eligible. For telehealth appointments you will pay at the time of booking in. a cancellation of less then 48 hours will incur a % fee

Payment plans are only made on request for in-home support packages. Payment plans are offered for your convenience only, so you can spread your payment out over time. You are still committed to paying the whole amount, even if you change your mind about completing the program, as you have had access to my intellectual property. It is your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient funds to make payment instalments on time. If a payment is overdue by more than 48 hours, access to the support package and my availability may be lost. I will not complete home visits until payments are up to date. If your payment is more than 7 days overdue and you have not contacted me to make alternative arrangements, the payment plan will be cancelled, I will send you an invoice for the whole amount remaining, and my normal payment terms will apply to that invoice.

Delivery and Shipping

I offer free delivery within 5km of Seaford.

Otherwise hampers and products are shipped (also welcome to collect from my home). My first preference is to use Sendle. As it is well priced and has a good delivery time. However I will use Australia Post if Sendle does not service that area well. I only offer postage within Australia. All hampers are securely packaged in a hamper box. Vulnerable items within hamper are wrapped individually. Average turn around time for getting ready for posting is withing 1-2 days. If there is any issue with delivery please contact me directly. Hampers are insured for $100. It is your responsibility to pay for extra insurance if your item is more than $100 in value. I will discuss this with you at the time of purchase.

Appointment Policies

For counselling appointments I require 48 hours notice before cancelling/rescheduling  otherwise a 50% of appointment fee is invoiced. I can not see you for another session before any outstanding invoices are paid. For home visits, as much notice as possible is needed. I know sickness can happen the day of appointments. So we will reschedule our in home visit. If I have 3 or more visits that have needed to be rescheduled, I will discuss with you if you are wanting to continue with my support. As I can not have packages extend much further as planned due to my availability.

Refund Policy

I do not offer a refund if you change your mind about a product, but I do allow you to return and exchange an item you have purchased from me. Products must be unused/unopened and returned within 10 days.

If there is an item in the standard hampers that do not meet your need, then I am happy to offer a choice of another product that I have in stock.

Peace of mind guarantee for services.

I will always aim to meet your expectations and wishes. Please let me know if there is an expectation that I am not meeting. I am always open to honest feedback and discussion about how I can meet your needs and work through your wishes. I would always prefer to try and continue to work through any specifics to rectify the situation and leave you feeling heard and satisfied. If however you would like to cancel my services due to me not meeting your expectations, a refund request needs to be made via email, within 7 days of our first postpartum visit.

I would also appreciate if you complete a feedback survey to help me establish why you felt you were not receiving the value you expected. A refund may then be granted at my discretion (minus the initial 50% deposit made, to compensate for services already provided, products and loss of opportunity to work with other clients). If I am unable to provide any postpartum support due to unpredictable unavailability I will either offer you a replacement postpartum practitioner or refund you in full.

In case of a stillbirth: The loss of a baby at any stage of pregnancy or after birth is a devastating life changing event. A mother who is grieving the loss of a child still needs just as much care and support as a mother with a babe in arms. I am experienced & trained in providing pregnancy and infant loss support. My intention would still be to offer you your planned package tailored to your unique grief and healing journey. If you did not want this support, I would offer you a refund minus $200 (from prenatal visit/products given to you).

Respectful Communication

These guidelines cover all communications with A Mama is Born, customers and collaborators in my website, social media, private and public groups (including online and face-to-face groups), course engagement, Q&A calls, email, phone and any other engagement with my community.

A Mama is Born space is:

  • A safe space. Any thing shared in groups or within my services will remain confidential. No cutting and pasting from private groups to elsewhere or sharing recordings.
  • A kind space. There will be no acceptance of any hate speech, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia or racism etc. of any kind, in any forum I manage. I reserve the right to exclude you from services without refund or block your unpaid participation if continued breaches occur.
  • A Supportive space. This is a place to gather and support each other and those that need support. There is nothing too big, small or embarrassing that can be shared here. I try and harness a mothers own intuition so advice and opinion will be minimal, but gentle guidance offered instead.
  • A sales free space. Please don’t promote or advertise your products or services in my private groups or public pages without the written consent of A Mama is Born.

If you would like to leave my a review or provide any feedback I am very encouraging of this. Please do this in a respectful and kind way. If you are having any concerns please do not leave negative feedback on any of my sights, but contact me directly.

Dispute Resolution & Jurisdiction

Negotiation

A Mama is Born is located in Victoria, Australia. This agreement is subject to the governing law of Victoria. If you have any issue or complaint arising out of your use of this website or these terms and conditions, you and A Mama is Born agree to make a genuine effort to resolve the dispute through negotiation and discussion. If we are unable to resolve a dispute by negotiation and discussion within fourteen (14) days, the parties must proceed to mediation with the assistance of an accredited mediator who is independent of the parties. The mediator is to be appointed by agreement of the parties or, failing agreement within twenty-one (21) days of the first notification of the dispute, by a person appointed by the Chair of Resolution Institute, (ACN 008 651 232, Level 2, 13-15 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW 2000; telephone: 02 9251 3366, email: infoaus@resolution.institute) or the Chair’s designated representative. The Resolution Institute Mediation Rules shall apply to the mediation. We agree to share the costs of mediation equally between us. It is a condition precedent to the right of either party to commence litigation other than for interlocutory relief that it has first offered to submit the dispute to mediation. Litigation is to be considered a last resort and may not be commenced until, in the opinion of the independent mediator, the potential for negotiation and mediation have been exhausted.

Mediation

“We” below refers to everyone involved in the dispute. If the dispute cannot be resolved by negotiation and discussion within 14 days, we agree to proceed to mediation with the assistance of an independent accredited mediator, seeking mediation online or by telephone if we are not both geographically located within 100kms of each other. The mediator is to be appointed by agreement between us or, failing agreement within 21 days of the negotiation period ending, the person initiating the dispute will seek the appointment of a dispute resolution professional by the President of the Law Society of Victoria or similar neutral authority.

We agree to share all the costs of mediation equally between us. We agree that neither of us will commence legal action until, in the opinion of the independent mediator, the potential for negotiation and mediation have been exhausted.

If we are unable to resolve a dispute by negotiation and discussion about my counselling as an accredited social worker, you may access the complaints procedure offered by the Australian Association of Social Workers here: https://www.aasw.asn.au/information-for-the-community/making-a-complaint

If a dispute arises, we all agree that we will not engage in any public discussion about the issues, we will behave politely towards each other, and we will avoid any conduct or communication which might reasonably be expected to unreasonably interfere with any other person’s business or personal interests.

This agreement is subject to the governing law of Victoria. Regardless of where you live in the world, you irrevocably agree that if the dispute resolution processes fail, the courts of Victoria, and the Commonwealth of Australia, will have exclusive jurisdiction.

Join Our Village

and get my free 4th trimester planner

Having a baby and want to build your village and plan for a peaceful postpartum? Join the ‘A Mama is Born’ village and receive a free Fourth Trimester Planner.

Don’t worry, I am not spammy and you will only hear form me maybe 1-2 times a month.