Two women who admitted to viciously assaulting a paramedic in Melbourne don't want to go jail because they've had “difficult lives”.

Amanda Warren, 32, and Caris Underwood, 20, today appeared before Victoria's County Court to appeal the jail sentences they received for assaulting a paramedic in 2016.

Lawyers for both women said the pair had tough childhoods but have started to turn their lives around since their drunken assault of paramedic Paul Judd at Reservoir.

A magistrate in December ordered Warren serve eight months in prison, and Underwood four months, over the assault.

But shortly after being handed jail terms, Underwood and Warren were released on bail as they appealed their sentence.

The pair had pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury, with Warren also pleading guilty to handling stolen goods after a gold necklace was ripped from Mr Judd's neck.

Their sentences marked the first time a mandatory minimum jail term had applied for the assault of a paramedic.

Victorian laws introduced in 2014 require that anyone who intentionally injures an emergency worker must be imprisoned for at least six months, unless there are "special reasons".

Underwood's young age, being 18 at the time of the attack, was considered a special reason.

Counsel for Warren, Cecily Hollingworth, said there were special reasons why her client, who was 30 at the time of the assault, should not be jailed.

"My argument, on behalf of my client, is special reasons are made out why the six-month mandatory term should not apply to her," she told the court.

Ms Hollingworth said Warren had a difficult childhood, details of which cannot be published for legal reasons, and a mental impairment that reduced her moral culpability.

"It's accepted that Warren has impaired mental function ... linked to what happened to Mr Judd," she told the court.

Underwood also had a difficult upbringing that had affected her maturity, the court was told.

The appeal hearing before judge Barbara Cotterell continues.