Dragonfly - I had both my girls at CHHC. I lived in Nambucca Heads at the time, but couldn't go to Macksville.
I don't know about your experiences with the Coffs Obs, but I had the 3 that were around at the time & wasn't impressed with any of them.
But in saying that I had a much better experience there than in Dubbo - 2 hours away from where I am now.
In 2001/2 & 2004/5 I was never advised of any ante natal clinic in Coffs either. An Ob was the only choice. Which, yeah, cost a fortune. (One of the reasons I didn't see one with DD2.)
up until may this year there wasn't any such thing as an antenatal clinic in Coffs. when i was having the twins in 1988, there was two OB's, Garland and Ghosh, and two GP's who would attend a birth. I was passed from doctor to doctor until i moved back up here from Wollongong, and had Ghosh for the last few weeks of the pg, whereupon he went on holiday and left me int he hands of an inexperienced locum. needless to say i had a horribly intervened-upon birth that nearly resulted in the death of myself and my son!

Garland is still practicing, and still prefers to do c/s than let a mother birth. the other two OB's are much better, Harvey Ward (who also is the Sydney IVF outreach) and Marylin Clarke, who works for the Pregnancy Care Clinic (the antenatal at the hospital) as well as her private practice. both are too expensive for me.

i chose a VBAC homebirth with my youngest, with a hospital trained English midwife, and it was the best choice i could have made. having said that, it was always onthe cards that i would rupture or have complications, and 30k from hospital was a worry, but i trusted her and my body/instincts, and it went smoothly.