S3 Episode 1: A Mother’s Instinct. Protecting Willow’s memory.

Amie is mum to three girls. Bella and Sadie are Earth side. 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 was 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.

S3 Episode 2: A story of massive post partum haemorrhage. Waking to the loss of your uterus.

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 four pregnancies and births of her 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.

S3 Episode 3. The many faces of birth trauma: Severe pelvic floor birth injury and vaginal prolapse.

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.

S3 Episode 4. A Broken Heart. Surviving Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.

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.

S3 Episode 5. A Mother's Intuition. A story of Love and Loss.

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.

S3 Episode 6: If these walls could talk. Postpartum psychosis.

When Jacqueline took her first born son home from hospital she appeared to all the world 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.

S3 Episode 7. Holding Space for her Sister. Twin-to-Twin; A story of loss and survival.

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 big sister in the womb as she held on, against all odds, to survive.

S3 Episode 8. Bleeding, Vaginas, Grief and Loss: Changing the way we approach miscarriage.

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.

S3 Episode 9. Altruistic Surrogacy: When it takes a village to create a child.

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. 

S3 Episode 10. Changing the Goalposts: Becoming a solo mum by choice.

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.