Footy star reveals how her teammate helped her give birth to her son: 'It doesn't get more intimate than that'

Former Brisbane Lions star Kate Lutkins has given birth to a baby boy with the assistance of her teammate Natalie Grider in a heartwarming and incredibly intimate display of friendship.

On the first day of August, Lutkins and wife Kate welcomed a beautiful baby boy named Matthew at Mater Mothers' Private hospital in South Brisbane.

The birth was all the more memorable because Grider was the midwife.

Lutkins, a three-time All Australian key defender, played alongside Grider for six years and the pair formed a special bond.

'It doesn't really get more intimate than being in the theatre, in that space and going through that journey with someone,' Lutkins told News Corp.

'Ever since Nat came to the club we've been in the same (football) position and she is such a beautiful human. 

'We just connected and had a friendship and relationship straight away even though we were, I don't even know how many years apart.'

In 2024, Grider told Lutkins she was doing a Bachelor of Midwifery at the University of Queensland.

Lutkins told her friend that she and her wife would be honoured if Grider could assist them at the birth of their next child. The couple already have a daughter together named Riley.

'I've always looked up to Lutz as sort of like a mother figure or a big sister or whatever you want to call it,' Grider said.

'She's so wise and has so much time for the young girls – particularly me, when I didn't know too much about footy or what the journey would look like for me.

'She was my biggest supporter and really helped me grow and become the defender that I have been over the last few seasons.'

Both of Lutkins' children were conceived via frozen embryo transfer (FET), with the process being successful both times on the first go.

'Football is like a second family and I had been with that club for eight years and nine seasons. You see them more than your family sometimes, so you do form special friendships,' Lutkins says.

'To share this journey with Natalie has been incredible. She's an absolute legend of a person and I have so much respect and love for her, the way she carries and holds herself, so it was a no-brainer having her as our midwife and getting to share that journey with her.

'Nat will always be a part of our lives and someone special in our lives and really special in Matt's life as well.'

Last year, Lutkins told the media how she juggles motherhood and being an athlete. 

'They both work really well together, and they both bounce off each other - and they make you better at the other one as well,' she told Seven.