Pregnancy Uncut

'
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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.