Pregnancy Uncut (Dr Alex Umbers and Dr Kara Thompson)

Isabelle, a journalist and writer, has a son, a daughter, and seven angel babies. For women wishing to conceive, miscarriage is sadly a common experience. Around 40% of women with children experience a miscarriage at some point along their pregnancy journey. But for Isabelle, the pain of loss occurred not once, but seven times, with five of these miscarriages occuring back-to-back. In this episode, Isabelle shares her story of recurrent hope followed by heartache. She explains how the lack of attention and research into early pregnancy loss, combined with the current systemic failure of the medical system to recognise the impact of early pregnancy loss, let her down again and again. Recurrent miscarriage is fortunately rare, affecting less than 1% of the population, but it is a devastating condition that, with our current knowledge, often remains medically unexplained. In addition, there is often some social discomfort when people choose to share their stories with friends and family. As Isabelle notes, miscarriage combines everything we are uncomfortable about; Bleeding, vaginas, grief and loss. Isabelle is on a mission to change that. 

After the birth of her second child, Anna knew that her family was complete. But just as strongly, she knew that she wanted to be pregnant again. Since she was a teenager, Anna had been drawn to the idea of surrogacy, and the chance to give the ultimate gift to another family. With the support of her family, Anna embarked on a long, complicated, emotional, and ultimately life-changing experience. After meeting couple Matt and Brendan who desperately wished to have a child of their own, Anna underwent IVF, and carried her ‘surro-bub’ , a baby genetically unrelated to her, for nine months. Finally, she birthed Baker at home and then passed him into the arms of his intended parents. 

However the journey did not end here. For Anna, expressing breastmilk and navigating complex physical postpartum changes meant that whilst her brain knew intellectually that Baker was loved, safe, and where he needed to be, her body and her hormones were grieving a child that was no longer physically with her. Anna describes the sense of loss and rollercoaster of emotions that cultivated in a diagnosis of postpartum depression. Now on the road to recovery, Anna is able to reflect with love and pride on her incredibly selfless gift that resulted in a child and a family that could not have existed without her. 

Katrina Gorry is a woman accustomed to breaking boundaries. A professional football player and Olympian, she is one of Australia’s most loved sports stars. So when Katrina felt that she wanted to become a mother, she wasn’t prepared to let career timing, professional pressure, or the fact that she was single, stand in her way. Katrina is one of a growing number of women who are choosing to take their fertility into their own hands, to become parents on their own terms. Katrina talks us through her decision to commence IVF as a solo mum, the birth of baby Harper, and the challenges of raising her daughter whilst succeeding in the traditionally male-dominated arena of professional sport. 
Katrina also shares her history of an eating disorder and her previously difficult relationship with her body, brought on by the obsessive physical focus that is required of professional athletes. Katrina describes how the physical changes of pregnancy allowed her to see her body in a whole new light, and to be incredibly proud of what it can achieve. Katrina is a role model to young athletes, and in addition to that, she is now also a role model to aspiring solo mums everywhere.  

When Kat was 15 years old, her previously pain-free life changed forever. Crippled with severe pelvic and abdominal pain, Kat was suddenly unable to walk down the corridor, let alone attend school. But when her GP dismissed her debilitating symptoms as a ‘normal part of life’, a cycle of uninterested medical care, inadequate treatment and chronic pain began. It would take another 17 long years before Kat heard the word endometriosis from a doctor, and she was finally able to get a diagnosis for her severe gynaecological condition. In this episode of Pregnancy Uncut Kat shares her experience of infertility related to endometriosis, her twin pregnancy, and how the long years of dismissal by hospitals and health care workers informed her experience of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. 

When school teacher Laura began experiencing unusual symptoms during her third trimester, it was initially thought they might be related to pregnancy. But at 34 weeks, Laura’s symptoms dramatically worsened. At a visit to the hospital, Laura suddenly stopped breathing, and required intubation. Unexpectedly, brain scans revealed a large tumour, putting huge pressure on her brain as it grew during pregnancy. After watching Laura being wheeled away, her husband Torben was later informed that Laura would need urgent neurosurgery and that her condition was critical. At the same time he was told that an emergency caesarean had been required to stabilise Laura, and that he had a son. For the next five days Torben sat alternatively by Laura’s side in ICU, and his son’s side in NICU, not knowing if he would be raising his child alone. Against the odds, Laura awoke from her coma to meet her baby Jagger. First time mum Laura then faced months of recovery and rehabilitation, learning how to speak and to walk again, at the same time as learning to be a new parent. Thank you Laura and Torben for sharing your incredible story of parenting with an acquired brain injury, filled with strength, acceptance and resilience.

When radio presenter Jacinta Parsons was in her early twenties, she began to feel unwell. The symptoms were insidious at first, and easy to dismiss. When she was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a severe and chronic inflammatory bowel condition, Jacinta was so unwell that she required multiple hospital stays, invasive procedures, and ultimately, an ileostomy bag.  Incredibly it was during this period, when she felt her body was failing her, that Jacinta discovered, with joy, that she was pregnant. Jacinta shares with us her journey to motherhood through her high risk pregnancy and birth.  She describes how her experience of living with chronic illness led her to tiptoe through her pregnancies, feeling like she had won a prize that could be taken away at any moment. With trademark empathy and insight, Jacinta shares how the hidden world of chronic illness can impact on all aspects of birth and parenting, from the physical challenges of parenting with an ileostomy bag, to the parenting guilt that is compounded for those living with an invisible illness in an ableist world. 

Haylee was a young, fit, first time mum, and her pregnancy with her first son Fred was progressing beautifully. Haylee was well educated about her health and pregnancy choices, and elected to birth at home with the support of her partner and a private midwife. When her labour at home began to slow, Haylee transferred her care to the local hospital, a short drive away. Unexpectedly, baby Fred was not found to not be coping well with labour and contractions, and Fred was born via emergency caesarean section. Following birth, Fred's birth weight smaller than expected, and he was diagnosed with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition where low oxygen levels can affect a baby’s brain. He was transferred  to the Royal Children’s Hospital via helicopter. Haylee shares her story of the traumatic first days and weeks of Fred’s life, and reflects on how she was treated and judged by some health care professionals in her journey. Haylee also describes the experience of her next births, and how she is now able to help other women on their pregnancy and birth journeys as a women's health osteopath. 

Leonie’s son Max was growing small and was in a breech presentation throughout her entire first pregnancy. When his heart rate dropped during monitoring at the 35 week mark, Leonie was whisked into an emergency caesarean birth. Leonie hoped for a vaginal birth after caesarean for her second son, but it wasn’t to be. After two caesarean births and an operation to treat a uterine septum and secondary infertility, Leonie was thrilled to be pregnant with her third son. But at the 20 week mark, her placenta was found to be low-lying, and was beginning to invade into the muscle of her uterus, at the site of her previous caesarean scars. Leonie was diagnosed with a condition called placenta accreta. This began an incredibly challenging and emotional journey that culminated in a combined caesarean birth and hysterectomy at the age of 34. 

Helen is a midwife, academic, lecturer and mum. When a scan at 21 weeks in her first pregnancy showed that her baby girl was on the 3rd centile for weight with high pressure flow in some crucial blood vessels, Helen knew exactly what that meant. Letting go of her hopes for an uncomplicated pregnancy, Helen kept working and looking after other people’s healthy babies, a box of tissues in her car for the inevitable tears that came each day. At 24 weeks she was advised her baby girl may survive, but the stress of her pregnancy was far from over. Helen shares her story of the trauma she suffered from her high risk pregnancy with baby Emilia and her postpartum mental health crisis. Helen also shares the story of her second pregnancy with son Lincoln who, in heart breaking circumstances, died after an unrelated pregnancy complication. Helen shares her wisdom relating to pregnancy trauma, a concept that includes but is not limited to birth trauma. She explains why understanding the impact of stress and grief on families is essential to providing best practice trauma informed care. 

As a ultrasound sonographer herself, Naomi was used to diagnosing every kind of pregnancy complication. But nothing could prepare her for the moment when, at 23 weeks of pregnancy, after noticing a slowing in her baby's movements, Naomi placed the probe on her own baby one morning at work. Straight away, Naomi identified that her baby was, in her own words, the sickest baby she had ever scanned. In this episode, Naomi shares her story of baby Emersyn who was diagnosed with severe fetal anaemia secondary to a parvo-virus infection in pregnancy. Naomi describes how her experience of losing baby Emersyn has shaped her work as a sonographer and has transformed her understanding of what it feels like to find yourself on the other side of the probe. 

Portia has, in her own words, always lived in a larger body. Even when she adopted excessive and almost disordered eating and exercise habits, her body mass index (BMI) remained in the ‘‘overweight’ category. As a doctor working in general practice, Portia understood the significant shortfalls of the BMI as a measurement, and the poor correlation of weight as an independent marker of overall health. Portia is one of a growing group of medical professions in Australia practising HAES-aligned care (Health at Every Size). However when Portia discovered that she has endometriosis and would require medical assistance to conceive, she encountered a world of fertility medicine that she believes viewed her as merely as a number on a set of scales, rather than as a whole person. Portia shares her story of being denied access to fertility treatment based purely on her BMI, and the frustration, guilt, and shame that these interactions caused. Portia describes how weight bias in medicine causes harm both on a personal and systemic level, and shares how her personal story provides hope for improvement and change.    

Kim and July met at an all-girls school. But when deciding to embark on a relationship, Kim had one important consideration; he identified as male, and wished to take the necessary steps for him to affirm his gender identity as a transgender man.  Several years later, Kim’s wife July faced a heart-breaking IVF journey and was unable to conceive. Faced with the possibility of never having the family they longed for, Kim made the difficult decision to pause his hormone therapy, and carry the pregnancy himself. Kim shares the challenges of accessing fertility and pregnancy care as a man, and the systemic barriers that exist to feeling welcome and accepted in this highly gendered space. 

Following years of masking and unanswered questions,  Annie was finally diagnosed Autistic and ADHD when she was in her late 20s, a delayed trajectory that is not uncommon in women on the spectrum. Annie has also faced several challenges including a history of sexual assault, PTSD,  Ehlers Danlos syndrome, and complex mental health (including an eating disorder) . In this episode of Pregnancy Uncut, Annie shares her experience of navigating pregnancy and birth as a neurodivergent woman. She shares how important it is for maternity care providers to understand and embrace the unique care considerations for Autistic individuals, from information sharing, planning and communication, to sensitivity to touch, light, and noise in the birthing space. Thank you Annie for sharing your important story with  us at Pregnancy Uncut. 

Claudine had been having a normal second pregnancy but when her 20 week scan showed abnormalities and she received the heartbreaking news that her baby, Sophie had severe Spina Bifida, her and her husband had two weeks to make the hardest decision of any parent.

Soon after, Claudine fell pregnant for a third time and took every recommended precaution but again, this time at 18 weeks, she received the same devastating news of Spina Bifida with baby Willow already showing signs of multiple complications. Claudine and her family once again had to say goodbye.

Feeling strongly that their family was still not complete and that their daughter Eliza should have a sibling, Claudine and Dave gathered the courage to try again but their 16 week scan revealed that despite all odds this baby too had Spina Bifida.  This time, however, them receiving this news coincided with the first intra-uterine surgery being performed in Australia and suddenly they were faced with possibility.

Claudine shares her incredible story of the heartbreak, hope and groundbreaking science that has created and shaped her family.

An accomplished writer, musician, journalist, broadcaster and climate activist, Sian Prior has led a fulfilling life.  However, she has always felt a chasm where her child should have been and it is only recently that she has given herself the space and compassion to acknowledge the grief that has been with her throughout much of her adult life as a result

The grief connected to Sian's journey of infertility and recurrent miscarriage carries its own weight, but has been further exacerbated by having to navigate her way in a society that places judgment and labels on those in her position without consideration for circumstance. 

Feeling that there is not enough open conversation and empathy around the complexities of being a woman without children, Sian has bravely bared her soul in her new book 'Childless' in the hope at going some way to breaking the silence.  We are so glad to have the opportunity to have this important conversation on Pregnancy Uncut.

Heidi is mother to three children but her firstborn, Harry, was stillborn at 38 weeks after a seemingly straightforward pregnancy.  The delivery of that news, that no expectant parent should ever hear, was done in a way that lacked the care and compassion it warranted and that memory continues to loom large. Returning home, Heidi and her family were lucky to be surrounded by love and support but there were still moments where she felt isolated and alone.

That unique and difficult insight is one that guides her as she supports other families and educates health workers in her role as a Bereavement Support Worker for the Red Nose Foundation, a position that she was offered after sharing Harry's story in a campaign around Stillbirth Australia. 

In this episode, Heidi shares her story of Harry - how he remains a large presence in her and her family's lives and how her work with Red Nose is such an important part of the slowly improving approach to supporting families through stillbirth and pregnancy loss. 

Married to a busy farmer and working as a midwife at their nearest hospital, Marnie’s dream was always to have her family born and bred close to home. 

She was just 19 weeks pregnant with her second baby, when her rural GP obstetrician found that baby's heartbeat was around half what it should have been, and diagnosed fetal heart block - a rare condition that would shape the pregnancy, birth, and first months of baby Amelia's life.

What followed was the opposite of what Marnie had envisaged, with hours and hours of driving to multiple appointments, days of intense monitoring and months of uncertainty, all far from home. Impacting the whole family - Marnie is so proud of her partner Pete as he worked all hours of the day, every day, keeping the farm running; and her son Jack who quickly had to get used to spending a lot of time away from his home and his parents, something he had never done before.  

Marnie shares with us her incredible story of a rural family under pressure,  out of their environment, in a pandemic; and of the pacemaker that finally turned Amelia's life around.

Nine years on from a traumatic birth that led to a fourth degree tear, Verity still finds herself wondering if there is more she could have done; asked a different person, articulated herself differently, said the magic words that would have got her the help she so desperately needed.

The reality however, is that she pushed and pushed and pushed. Went down every avenue, was articulate in her concerns, her needs and her emotional vulnerability. Had it not been for her mother and a GP who finally listened, Verity believes her story could have had a disastrous ending. 

In her conversation with us, Verity is open and honest about her birth, her fourth degree tear, subsequent surgery and the toll that took, and continues to take, on her physical and emotional health. She believes that this transparency is crucial, not just for her healing but for others in her position, and there are many. With so much secrecy and misunderstanding still surrounding severe tears, many woman still feel ashamed to talk openly about the reality of living a changed life as a result.

Verity speaks eloquently about this, her personal experience, her fear at falling pregnant a second time and her belief that the impact of her trauma will continue through the generations. Yet at the time, not one person even mentioned the phrase 'birth trauma'. 

Alexandra had always imagined being a mum,   but the onset of baby hunger in her late 30s, while a long term relationship with a man who didn’t share her dream, led to a change in direction. After moving back in with her parents, a series of bad dates, time began to outrun her reproductive age, so Alexandra made the pragmatic decision to go it alone using donor sperm.

What followed was a journey of discovery; leading her family through their unease and grief of an expected path, encountering strangers and health professionals quick to share opinions and assumptions.  Alexandra surrounded herself with a community of people who understood and supported her, and in her memoir shares her experience of pregnancy, birth and parenting  baby Quinn. 

Alexandra's book, Inconceivable, is a beautiful, raw, honest, and at times hilarious journey into solo motherhood, one becoming ever more prevalent amongst Australian women. 

Pip had always seen herself having a family and as a driven and organised obstetrician she had clear expectations about how, and when, that might happen. But rarely do fertility journeys unfold as we expect.  After an initial miscarriage that instantly her interactions and understanding of the women in her care, she found herself on an IVF journey that would bring heartbreak, complications, twists and turns that she could never have predicted.

Now a mum of four, the family picture belies the journey that Pip and her husband went on to get there. She talks to us about how that journey has shaped every aspect of her, not just as a person but as a doctor as well. Pip’s open and moving conversation with Kara shows how what we see of a person is often only the tip of the iceburg of who they are and the experiences they have had. We carry all our pregnancy experiences in our hearts, those visible to all and those hidden to the outside world.

In this episode we side-step from our usual content to hear the considered insights of Dr. Nisha Khot.

Nisha grew up, studied and practiced to become a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in India - where 'a feminist was born'.  After further training and working in the UK she landed on Australian shores, practising and training the next generation of O&G specialists, many (including our co-host Kara) are all the better for it. Working as a consultant, Nisha realised that the injustices she was seeing were not going to be fixed by a magical ‘someone’ and so took it upon herself to do something about it.  As a fierce advocate of equity in healthcare and medicine, she is now the Vice-President of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), and is committed to ensuring the future of the profession has women at its very core .

Join Dr Kara and Dr Nisha as they explore topics close to their hearts and to their practice: the value of diversity, and importance of informed decision-making, and advocacy for gender equity in healthcare.

When Candice took her baby boy Emmett home from hospital he had twice failed the standard hearing tests. However, no one seemed too concerned,  her pregnancy had been uncomplicated and everything seemed well. However an outpatient audiology consult that should have taken a couple of hours, lasted nearly a full day and maternal instinct started tingling.  At the end of that day she was told that Emmett had permanent hearing loss on one side and they were referred for further testing and consultation.  

Congenital CMV was listed as one possible cause and there followed a whirlwind of appointments  and tests to arrange to determine exactly what might have caused the hearing loss. Candice and Isaac had never heard of CMV and they took to google, quickly heading down a whirlwind of their own. The symptoms of CMV vary wildly, are often difficult to diagnose and may only present later in life.

Testing confirmed that Emmett had CMV and the next few months were absorbed by days of testing and appointments. Emmett is now a happy boy, developing and learning well - navigating around his hearing loss and Candice is confident that with their support, he will be able to take on the world. With the benefit of hindsight, Candice reflects that there is little she could have done differently, with the precautions to prevent CMV being virtually impossible when living with a toddler and the prevalence of infection being so high.

This episode includes a bonus mini-discussion of the complexities of CMV following Kara's interview with Candice. 

After a complex fertility journey and a birth and post-partum overshadowed by Covid, Isla was hopeful that she was through the complexity and her journey to her next baby would be more straightforward. At first, this seemed to be the case - as Isla naturally fell pregnant with second baby Freddie. Everything seemed to be going well when Isla discovered a lump on her breast.

Thinking it was likely nothing, possibly mastitis or something connected to the changes of her body in pregnancy, Isla couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. She persued it further and, after being sent for scans, was told that her hunch had been right - she had aggressive Stage four breast cancer.

Only 33 weeks pregnant at the time, Isla suddenly had to make all kinds of hugely difficult decisions, not just about what was right for her, but also what was the best thing for her baby and she had to do so fast.

Isla speaks of the enormous support she found in community groups, two of which can be found here:

Cancer Chicks.
https://www.instagram.com/cancerchicksau?igsh=dHMzNHFvNTdjeDd2

Pregnancy With Cancer Support Group. (Note, this is a private group and you must ask to join)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/168089259921374/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

When his partner Maddy went into labour with their second child, Matt was excited to meet the new addition to their family, but a cord prolapse leading to emergency surgery, saw him instead, alone in a waiting room looking at the seemingly motionless hands of a clock. When Baby Wren was born, she required intensive breathing support, and soon afterwards Matt and Maddy had to make the impossible decision to palliate or transfer her to Melbourne to see if specialist help could save her.

Wren spent 8 days in the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne and underwent cooling. Despite receiving the devastating news that she would not be able to live without a ventilator, Matt describes them as some of the most treasured days of his life, and the special memories they created that captured her last moments.

In his grief and trauma, Matt has been mobilised to bring about change. He is an incredible advocate for bereaved parents, creating spaces where they, especially the Dads, have the support and resources they need to support themselves and their families. 

Join Matt as he talks to Alex about the heartbreaking and precious short life of baby Wren, and how they navigated pregnancy and birth after birth trauma and loss.  

Family is everything to Renee. 

At 95, she is a living legend, and our oldest guest on Pregnancy Uncut. Renee' s memory is impressively sharp and despite her age, her experiences of her five births remain vivid and profound. Renee now has three grown up children, but she also has two children no longer earthside: she is a survivor of her time, to say the least.

Renee is one of ten (10!!) and grew up in a time where resilience reigned and preventable deaths were part of life. She's lived through a world war, and lost siblings to vaccine preventable disease. Perinatal loss was considered a mishap, at least to some, rarely acknowledged and never discussed or supported.

Her most profound and lasting memories as a young mother are of her still born baby, and subsequent death of another baby, at just a few days old. Sounds and the kind of maternity care she received have never left her.  

Renee generously shares her story, and reflects on how much maternity has changed in the last 100 years and how birth experiences imprint on mothers.  She is a living testament to the lasting and deep impact of loss, and the strength and resilience of a generation. 

Join Alex as she talks to Renee about family, bereavement and the changes that she has seen across nearly a century. 

Hayley is a qualified trauma counsellor and mum of two. With her education and expertise she felt well equipped to manage her own trauma from sexual assault, particularly when her first birth was straightforward.

Going into her second Hayley felt prepared and excited. However, in the midst of her labour and birth she found herself disassociating and unable to reach anyone who would be able to help her. Bravely sharing her raw yet insightful story, Hayley teaches us how past trauma can impact pregnancy, labour and birth. 

Alex and Hayley discuss her personal experience of birth after sexual assault but also discuss more broadly the things that healthcare providers can be doing to provide true trauma-informed care to victim survivors.

Tune in to this valuable episode now by listening to Season 7 episode 8 at pregnancyuncut.com, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We encourage you to please reach out if you, or someone you know, need support
Sexual assault support services | Sexual assault (reachout.com)

In this episode we are thrilled to welcome back to the podcast, Amy Dawes - co-founder and CEO of the Australasian Birth Trauma Association to talk with Kara about informed consent. This was the theme of this year's birth trauma awareness week and Kara and Amy do a deep dive on just why it is so important.

When Amy was last on the podcast she spoke openly about her personal journey of birth trauma and living with levator avulsion. Now, some years on we welcome her candor as she talks about her own life and the directions it is now taking her.

This is a fantastic and important conversation that covers many aspects of why informed consent in healthcare is the cornerstone of supporting and caring for women through pregnancy, labour and birth.

In our final episode for season 6, Kara talks to Dr. Imogen Hines about Induction of labour, specifically planned induction and the surprising reaction it can prompt.

As an orthopedic doctor, Imogen was no stranger to research and so when she found out she was pregnant she didn't hesitate to put that to the test researching the birth that was going to be best for her and her baby. Based on her findings and on her personal situation she decided to book for a planned induction at 39 weeks.

As a public figure, Imogen was expecting to hear multiple opinions on her decision but she did not anticipate the level of negative comments, even vitriol, that would come her way

As well as speaking openly of her own experience, Imogen and Kara discuss induction at length including the ongoing impact of the Arrive trial and being pregnant when everyone seems to have an opinion on your choices. She also shares fascinating insight on the ongoing gender inequity in surgical training and how women continue to be pushed out by unnecessary structural barriers.

Our introduction to Pregnancy Uncut. 
Meet your hosts doctors Alex Umbers and Kara Thompson working in women's health. Hear what motivated them to start the project, and what to expect from the first season where they explore what its like when pregnancies do not go to plan.
Topics include infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, obstetric emergencies, birth trauma, perinatal mental health, baby loss.   

In the first episode, host Doctor Alex Umbers bravely walks us through her own personal experience of recurrent pregnancy loss. Focusing in on one particular late miscarriage at seventeen weeks due to premature rupture of membranes, and what pregnancy loss felt like for her and her partner.  She shares her own challenges as a doctor working in obstetrics,  and the healing journey after and subsequent pregnancies .  *Content warning: miscarriage, pregnancy loss

Episode 2 explores Stefanie's story of birth trauma. Her third birth was all going to plan, when Stefanie suddenly and unexpectedly had a cardiac arrest and life threatening bleed after her baby was born. Her story unpacks her experience of the rare obstetric emergency (amniotic fluid embolism), her time in intensive care, and surviving birth trauma in the aftermath.  She explains how she and her family worked through PTSD and her journey to recover.
*Content warning: Birth trauma, cardiac arrest, near death experience, post traumatic stress disorder

Episode 3 explores a mother’s tragic loss of her baby at just eleven days old. Candice bravely shares the story of her second daughter, Billie. She describes her short life, and death, due to a rare viral infection that caused inflammation of Billie's heart.  This is a mother's honest, heartbreaking and unexpected journey into bereavement, her families new normal, subsequent rainbow twin pregnancy, and the establishment of the All for Billie fundraiser for enterovirus research.
*Content warning: neonatal death, baby loss, meningitis, enterovirus myocarditis, grief, rainbow pregnancy.

For many, birth and pregnancy is a time for anticipation, celebration and joy. 
But for one in five parents, behind the tired smiles and exhausted faces lies a silent sea of anxiety and depression.

Episode Four cuts through this silence.  We speak with Jo about her unexpected descent into postnatal depression with the arrival of her second son, and her pathway to recovery. 

We chat with perinatal mental health expert, clinical psychologist Hannah Jensen, about one of the biggest developmental leaps  in life, the transition into motherhood.  

We explore the difference between baby blues and a post natal mental illness, what red flags to look out for,  risk factors such as birth trauma, and impact on parenting.  We talk about how to get help.

Most importantly we normalise this conversation and de-stigmatise this experience so our community can recognise and effectively respond to mental illness in and around pregnancy.

When you’re trying for a baby, the moment you find out you’re pregnant is one of pure joy. But for some, this early pregnancy joy turns to sadness and confusion. For many, the first weeks of pregnancy are consumed with the no-man’s land of ultrasounds, blood tests, and inconclusive results. Our guest Lucy walks us through the complex and confusing experience of her first pregnancy. Having always believed she would have many babies, enjoy pregnancy and labour naturally, Lucy was devastated to experience the loss of her first pregnancy. Compounding this sense of loss, she endured extensive hospital stays, countless ultrasounds, and ultimately, surgery and the prospect of losing her uterus. Lucy shares with us the impact of her experience both physically and emotionally, and how this ectopic pregnancy continues to scar her experience of pregnancy and birth forever. 

In Episode 6, our guest Karina shares the story of her first child, baby Georgina, who was stillborn. Karina recounts the joy and excitement of the first half of her pregnancy, and the moment when her world came unexpectedly crashing down. Diagnosed with an extremely severe fetal brain abnormality, Karina and her husband James were forced to make decisions about their pregnancy that no family ever wishes to make. Karina bravely recounts her experience of navigating the devastating world of severe fetal abnormality and the heartbreaking path that follows in honest and beautiful detail. Thank you Karina for sharing this difficult but incredibly important story of the devastating loss of your loved baby, Georgina.

As she moved into the start of her third trimester, Lucy’s pregnancy was going beautifully. Feeling lucky to avoid severe pregnancy symptoms at the start of her pregnancy, Lucy was not expecting to feel increasingly unwell as she attended her 28 week appointment. When the midwife found an abnormally high blood pressure, Lucy suddenly found herself at the edge of a slippery slope that led down into a high risk and complicated pregnancy journey. Diagnosed with early onset pre-eclampsia, and with an ultrasound showing that her baby daughter was growing much smaller than expected, Lucy subsequently spent many weeks in hospital attempting to keep herself and her baby healthy. Feeling like a vessel struggling to grow and feed her baby, and battling feelings of inadequacy as a mother, Lucy describes the difficult and unexpected journey of severe preeclampsia and the subsequent pre-term birth of her tiny daughter into the unknown world of the special care nursery.

Despite being a health professional, severe perineal trauma was not something Ellie was prepared for, or even aware of, prior to the birth of her baby. 

Following the birth of first baby, Ellie was taken to the operating theatre to repair her perineal tear. Perhaps this was normal, Ellie recalls thinking. Unfortunately, Ellie subsequently learnt that she was one of the 1-in-20 first time mums who had suffered a severe birth injury known as a third degree tear, or injury of the anal sphincter. What followed was a battle to understand and process her experience, followed by a life-long struggle with the effects of her injury, which impacted on every aspect of her life. As a nurse, Ellie was well placed to navigate the medical system. However what she discovered was a complex, and confusing world of post-partum care, where help was disjointed, contradictory, and difficult to obtain. Forced to advocate for herself, with an injury that is almost always hidden and not spoken of, Ellie now wishes to share her journey to help others understand the lived experience of birth injuries. 

Navigating a pregnancy and birth of a baby can be exciting, overwhelming, and challenging. For First Nation’s parents however, this universally challenging time is compounded by an additional and constant stress. Not only do Aboriginal parents face the usual challenges facing all new parents, they also carry with them the devastating impacts of colonisation and the ongoing effects of the Stolen Generation. Far from being ancient history, the threat of removal from home care is an ever-present and ongoing source of anxiety for Aboriginal families, with their children currently being removed from home at a rate that is over 10 times the national average. This is just one of many statistics that highlight the entrenched racism that is inherent in our systems, causing ongoing inequities in health outcomes and in our society. 

White Australians live, work, and birth in a system that is built by them and for them. For Indiginous and Torres Straight Islander People, the reality of colonisation and the legacy of the White Australia Policy is something that must be confronted, and survived, every day. The impacts of this on every aspect of their birth and parenting experience is profound. We are so grateful to our guests Lily and Jordy for sharing their story with us. 

In 2019 Alex and her husband were deliberating their plans for 2020. Would the newlyweds travel overseas or start a family? Deciding on the latter, they were thrilled to discover they were pregnant soon after. But accompanying them on their first trimester journey were news stories that grew more urgent by the day, warning them of a terrifying new virus that was spreading around the world. By the time she reached the half way point of her pregnancy, Alex, a midwife herself, faced a pregnancy experience that was nothing like she had ever hoped or imagined. Facing birth in Stage 4 Lockdown restrictions in Melbourne, without her family able to support her, and with hospital rules constantly changing, Alex chose to birth at home with her husband and private midwife. However the restrictions associated with the pandemic continued to present myriad stressful and unpredictable obstacles during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. In this episode, Alex shares a story that is familiar to so many women having a baby in Australia in 2020 and 2021. Episode 9 of Pregnancy Uncut delves into the frightening and isolating reality of being a pregnant woman during a pandemic, and explores how the effects of this unprecedented change in maternity care may be felt for generations. 

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In our first episode of Season 2, our guest Jade opens up about the heartbreak of losing her baby Kai to a condition known as cervical insufficiency or cervical incompetence. Jade’s pregnancy was progressingly beautifully, and her bond with her unborn child was already so strong, when Jade was given some unexpected news that no parent can ever imagine hearing. At almost half way through her pregnancy, Jade was told her cervix had silently opened, and that baby Kai’s life was suddenly at serious risk. Jade walks us through those first terrifying days after hearing this news, the eventual birth of her daughter, and the impact Kai has had, and continues to have, on Jade, her husband Tyson, and all those who met Kai and loved her. 

Following on from hearing our guest Jess discuss the challenges she faced feeding her baby Noah in Episode 2,  we have included this special bonus episode chatting to an expert in all things breastfeeding, our Lactation Consultant Amber. Amber provides a beautiful and balanced approach to the challenges of feeding our babies. Amber shares with us her expert tips for breastfeeding, and ways to approach challenges such as cracked nipples, formula top up, and mastitis. Amber is a brilliant LC whose motto is, above all else, be kind. Be kind to other mothers, be kind to each other, and most of all, be kind to ourselves. We hope you enjoy this special World Breastfeeding Week bonus episode of Pregnancy Uncut. 

In Episode 3 of season 2, our guest Katy shares with us the unimaginably difficult journey of her three pregnancies afflicted with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). Like so many conditions affecting women throughout history, nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, has historically been dismissed as a personal weakness. At best it has been undertreated, at worst women have been blamed and ignored. Whilst these dark ages are hopefully behind us, there is no doubt there is a long way to go in understanding the debilitating impact that nausea and vomiting, and in it’s extreme form- hyperemesis gravidarum - can have on women and their pregnancies.  We are so grateful to Katy for sharing her story of her dark days of battling Hyperemesis Gravidarum. The overwhelming physical and emotional impacts of severe, persistent and debilitating nausea rendering any mundane task impossible for nine long months is difficult to imagine. Katy shares with us the pregnancy story of her two beautiful children, and of the story of her traumatic first pregnancy that ended in heartbreak. Thank you Katy for sharing your story and adding your voice to this rare and little understood condition. 

In Episode 4 we welcome Dr Carmen Brown, who shares her personal story of pregnancy complications. As an Obstetrician herself, Carmen has seen it all before. But when complications arose in her own pregnancy, and Carmen found herself on a tiny airplane being repatriated in an emergency air transfer to a larger hospital, and facing the preterm birth of her son, Carmen discovered how different the experience can be when you are suddenly on the other side of the doctor-patient divide. Carmen takes us through her experience of placenta praevia, bleeding in pregnancy, and the trials of an extended hospital stay in pregnancy.

After sharing her personal story, Dr Carmen explores an issue in pregnancy care that is close to her heart. Dr Carmen is an expert in all things women's health, and she has a particular interest in one incredibly important and often overlooked aspect of maternity care; the shocking health disparities that exist along racial lines.  Dr Carmen outlines the extent to which structural and systemic racism contributes to devastating health inequities experienced by women of colour all around the world. Carmen describes how unconscious bias permeates our health spaces and the impact this can have on women's wellbeing, their experience and their survival. Dr Carmen identifies ways these health inequities can be recognised, women can be empowered to identify and challenge them, and health outcomes can be improved via advocacy and structural change. 

When Greg's son Riley was born, Greg's life felt complete.  Together with 3yo daughter Olivia,  Greg and his wife Catherine enjoyed a blissful few weeks in their newborn bubble getting to know their beautiful boy. But on Day 27 of Riley' life, something changed. Riley was suddenly less interested in breastfeeding and had developed a slight cough. The next day, in an abundance of caution, his parents took him into hospital for a check up, feeling confident he would be home that same day. Only four days later Riley had died. Whooping cough, an insidious, but wholly vaccine preventable disease, had claimed baby Riley's life. At only one month old, Riley was too young to be vaccinated. His devastated parents discovered shortly after that a vaccine for pregnant women had been recently recommended in other countries to protect newborn babies in-utero, however this was not yet available or offered in Riley's pregnancy. Incredibly, Greg and his wife Catherine dedicated themselves to bringing the Whooping Cough vaccine to pregnant women across Australia, creating awareness of vaccine preventable diseases, whilst keeping the memory of Riley alive.

Greg shares with us the time he spent with his newborn son, the nightmare of his sudden illness and hospital stay, and  how, as a bereaved father, he navigated the all-consuming grief and breakdown that can only come from losing a child. 

As a senior paediatric and Special Care Nursery (SCN) nurse for 16 years, Gemma knew all there is to know about looking after premature and unwell babies. But when she discovered she was pregnant with twins, she was suddenly faced with the possibility of having her own complicated pregnancy and preterm babies. Twins pregnancies are at a significantly higher risk of being born early, with around half of twins arriving less than 37 weeks. One in ten sets of twins are born very early, at less than 32 weeks gestation. In this episode, Gemma tells her story of her twin pregnancy, complicated by threatened premature labour, decreased fetal movements, and placental complications, which led to the emergency preterm birth of her baby boy Lennox and baby girl Pippa. Gemma then takes us through her experience of the SCN journey as a mother, and how it differed from being on the other side of the clinician / patient divide. Gemma shares her insights into what it is like to have two babies in SCN, the challenges of feeding and caring for two premature babies, and what she has learnt to guide her as she continues to look after families with their own premature and unwell babies. 

Kaillee was only 25 weeks pregnant with her much wanted IVF twin pregnancy when her partner Chris started to feel unwell after a trip to the supermarket. It was 2020, in the very early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia. Kailee was working from home and taking every precaution possible to avoid exposure to this new virus and keep her babies safe. By the time Chris’ results came back seven days later, Kaillee felt the first symptoms of infection emerging. As Chris got better, Kailee rapidly declined. Gasping for breath, and feeling like she was drowning, Kaillee found herself in an ambulance being rushed into the hospital. Her babies had stopped moving normally as they struggled to conserve their energy, as the oxygen flowing through their placenta became increasingly compromised. Before being rushed to ICU and intubated, Kaillee recalls saying goodbye in her mind to her babies. ‘Keep my body alive for them’ she begged her partner. In case I don’t wake up to meet them. 

When Holly decided that she wanted to have a baby, her journey to parenthood was anything but straightforward. Holly discovered that she had the ‘Infertility Trifecta’. Unable to conceive naturally due to an ovulation disorder, Holly was also considered ‘socially’ infertile as a Queer person and as a single woman. Undeterred, Holly embarked on the arduous journey of IVF and single parenthood by choice. Holly shares with us the joys and challenges of solo parenting, as well as the trials of navigating the infertility and hospital systems as a queer single person, in a system that is designed at every step to assume the pregnant person is one half of a traditional family unit. 

Holly also shares with us her experience of contracting COVID-19  in 2020 and passing the virus onto her partner, a trans man with cystic fibrosis who was nine months pregnant. Holly and her partner were placed into mandatory isolation in hospital with their children, and were not allowed to leave their rooms, even to visit each other. Her partner gave birth during this time in hospital and they made medical history as the first non-caesarean COVID birth in the world. Holly shares the trauma that persisted after her diagnosis of Covid, and the stigma of contagion that followed her and her partner out of hospital, drawing parallels to the history and politics of ‘Queer Fear’ and the stigma of infection. 

Being young, fit and healthy, Gabrielle naturally thought her first pregnancy would progress smoothly. Having never known anyone who had experienced or spoken about miscarriage, Gabrielle’s world was rocked by the loss of her first pregnancy. Despite being surrounded by people in New York City, she felt completely alone. Where were the people who understood, the women who had been through something similar, to be with her and to hold her? This was to be the first moment that led Gabrielle to start Gather - a Collective Space for Women, on her return home to Melbourne. Gabrielle also takes us through the subsequent births of her children and how they inspired her to undergo a complete career change and retrain as a Birth Doula . Gabrielle shares the story of her massive postpartum hemorrhage following the birth of her first child, the disconnect in her care experience in her second birth, and finally the healing experience of her third birth. Covering everything from mother guilt, to the importance of the postpartum period, to the beauty of matrescence. This is a story of the birth of a Doula. 

Young and head over heels in love, Sarah was thrilled to welcome her first baby into the world with her loving husband by her side. To the outside world, they looked like the perfect young family. Inside their home it was a very different story. Challenges arose after difficulties around breastfeeding with inverted nipples. Determined, Sarah persevered. However as the emotional and practical help from her partner began to ebb away, the challenges became greater and greater. When her second child arrived in quick succession, Sarah found herself trapped in a controlling and disrespectful relationship. This story explores the subtleties of domestic abuse, a singular violent episode, gaslighting and Sarah's recovery from depression and mental breakdown. We are aware of the chilling statistic that one woman a week is killed in Australia by their current or former partner. Underneath this statistic, are thousands of women who are trapped in emotionally abusive, controlling or coercive relationships, whose very means of survival, sense of self, and capacity to leave have been stripped away. Sarah’s story is a powerful voice of one woman who shall no longer be silenced. 

Amie Rohan is mum to three girls. Bella and Sadie are Earth side, and Amie’s second born daughter Willow, is her angel daughter. Following Willow’s short life in 2018, Amie has chosen to reach out to as many families as she can, to share her experience of carrying, birthing, and loving Willow, who was born with anencephaly, a severe and rare congenital abnormality. Amie’s story is made incredibly unique by the fact that Bella and Willow were identical twins. They shared everything; the same mother and father, the same placenta and even the same DNA. But in a tragic and unfair twist, Bella and Willow’s brains developed very differently during their first crucial weeks of development in the womb. When Amie was told at only 12 weeks of pregnancy that one of her twins had a severe birth defect that ‘was not compatible with life’ Amie could hardly comprehend what she was hearing. Whilst her other baby appeared to be developing normally, the situation was precarious. Any complication during the pregnancy from her identical twin had the capacity to cause tragedy for both sisters. In this special episode of Pregnancy Uncut, Amie shares with us the intricate details of the incredible highs, devastating lows, and ongoing impacts of the pregnancy and birth that made her a mother. 

Living on a remote farm in rural NSW, Laura’s options for place of birth were limited by geography. Her local hospital provided care to the entire region, and offered personalized care led by a team of dedicated GP-Obstetricians and skilled local midwives. But with only a small number of births per year, there were no facilities for epidural during birth or specialist obstetrics services in the region. In this episode of Pregnancy Uncut, Laura walks us through the pregnancies and births of her four children. Following a caesarean birth for placenta praevia, Laura birthed vaginally after caesarean (VBAC) for her fourth baby. Immediately following birth, Laura suffered a catastrophic haemorrhage and was rushed via air evacuation to a larger hospital. She awoke many hours later in ICU to find out that she had needed over 40 blood products to save her life, and that her uterus had been surgically removed. Laura walks us through the trauma of her ICU stay, the grief arising from her unplanned hysterectomy and the moment her baby fixed her broken heart. Laura’s story is an important reminder of the inequity of access to healthcare in Australia, and the importance of supporting and resourcing pregnancy care for rural and remote families. 

On paper, the birth of Amy’s first daughter was a traumatic experience. Amy experienced a forceps birth in theatre, a third degree tear, and a postpartum haemorrahge requiring a blood transfusion. Following this, she was in a wheelchair for five days, and couldn’t walk properly for weeks. But as Amy knows better than almost anyone else, it is not possible to identify a traumatic birth on paper. As the co-founder and CEO of the Australian Birth Trauma Association (ABTA), Amy understands that birth trauma has many different faces. The events and circumstances that can make a birth traumatic are different for everyone. For Amy, her personal experience of trauma was not related to the birth itself, but began 18 months after the birth of her daughter. Diagnosed with a severe pelvic organ prolapse, Amy found herself physically and mentally falling apart. Amy didn’t know a single other person living with prolapse, and felt stigmatised, isolated and alone. Amy’s sense of self worth, and her identity as a mother, spiralled into a dark place. In this special episode of Pregnancy Uncut, Amy shares her personal story of birth injury, how she recovered both physically and mentally, and how she was inspired to start ABTA to help others experiencing trauma and grief around birth.

When Bec, a first time mum, began feeling tired, short of breath and a little dizzy, her symptoms could easily be put down to the normal physiological changes of late pregnancy and birth. By the end of pregnancy, a healthy woman's blood volume has expanded by 50%, the heart is working harder and faster, and oxygen requirements are significantly higher. But every so often, these seemingly innocuous symptoms of late pregnancy can hide a much more sinister condition. A short time after the birth of her daughter Poppy, Bec found herself back in the hospital, surrounded by doctors, unable to breathe. Bec’s previously normal heart was failing. Her weak heart muscle was not able to pump the blood that her body needed, and her lungs had filled with fluid. Bec was drowning. What followed was a terrifying and emotional journey through peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare, but potentially fatal form of heart failure in pregnancy. Bec shares how the unwavering support of her family and partner, the trust she built with her care providers, and a shift to focusing only on the little things in life, helped her to slowly recover, one step at a time.

When Dominique was pregnant with her first child, she had an intuition that something wasn’t quite right. Despite being categorized as low risk, and all her ultrasounds and tests being normal, Dom couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her baby. Following the birth of Zoey, Dom’s worst fears were realized. Instead of enjoying quiet skin to skin with her newborn daughter, there were suddenly emergency buzzers and doctors streaming into the room. Zoey wasn’t breathing, and was rushed with her dad Greg to the Royal Children’s Hospital. Dom was left alone in the birthing room, not knowing what was happening to her daughter. In this episode, Dom takes us through the next four harrowing weeks at the RCH, as the nurses and doctors tried to pinpoint the mystery of why Zoey was born so unexpectedly unwell, and when the heartbreaking moment came to turn off her life support. Dom reflects on her brief but beautiful time with Zoey, how the experience continues to shape her life in positive ways. Dom talks about how the passing of time over the years has allowed her to appreciate all the wonderful things she does have in life, and to be grateful for getting the chance to carry and meet Zoey. 

When Jacqueline took her first born son home she appeared to be the embodiment of the idealized new mother. The house was clean, baby Arthur was sleeping and feeding well, and Jac was showered and neatly dressed. However beneath the flawless veneer, Jac’s family began to notice some cracks. Jac’s behaviour began to seem increasingly bizarre, and some of her comments seemed strange. But Jac had no history of mental health conditions, and she didn’t seem depressed. Her odd behaviour could be easily explained away. But underneath the smile and endless energy, Jac was living a nightmare. She was hearing strange voices, and her thoughts were increasingly chaotic. Bizarre and terrifying delusions began intruding into her world, making it impossible for her to distinguish between hallucination and reality. Jac was suffering from Postpartum Psychosis; a rare but often catastrophic psychiatric emergency. In this episode, Jac bravely shares her story and helps shed light on this terrifying but poorly understood pregnancy condition. 
She shares how the love and support of her family and husband James helped her through her darkest of days. 

Anna and her partner were thrilled with the news that they would be expecting not one, but two identical twin girls. Anna was carrying monochorionic or MCDA twins, meaning her two girls were sharing one placenta. When the doctor explained the plan for her pregnancy, a long list of potential complications were briefly mentioned. But everything looked like it was progressing beautifully, and Anna allowed herself to imagine her life as a mum of two. But at 19 weeks, everything suddenly changed. Diagnosed with Stage 3 Twin-to-Twin Syndrome, Anna was rushed for surgery on the placenta of her unborn babies. The next day came the devastating news that one of her daughters had not survived the night. What followed was a tumultuous rollercoaster of grief, loss and a tiny sliver of hope. After her waters broke at only 21 weeks, Anna describes the way her ‘little one’ held space for her big sister in the womb as she held on, against all odds, to survive.