When Mamamia's Head of Content, Eliza, found herself unexpectedly pregnant with her third child during what was meant to be a one-year Swedish adventure, life took a beautiful detour. But her planned C-section was not so routine when the spinal anaesthesia failed midway through, causing Eliza to feel the surgical procedure.

After a desperate plea for help and being rushed to be put under general anaesthetic, Eliza describes waking up to the joy of meeting her son August. She shares the cultural differences of Swedish healthcare—celebration sandwiches with tiny flags, their devotion to constant skin-to-skin contact (to the point of no hospital bassinets!), and the staff's bewilderment at her Australian swaddling techniques. Her story beautifully weaves together the unexpected moments of motherhood with cross-cultural discovery.

Diary Of A Birth features mums telling their miraculous stories of bringing life into the world. If you’d like to share your birth story, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected] or send us a voice note here.

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If you’re looking for something else to listen to, check out our hilarious and seriously unhelpful podcast The Baby Bubble hosted by Clare and Jessie Stephens.

Mamamia has a podcast for every stage of parenthood.
Our parenting podcast is This Glorious Mess.
If you’re pregnant, listen to The Delivery Room and Hello Bump.
And if you’re trying or preg-curious, Get Me Pregnant and Before The Bump are for you.

CREDITS:

Host: Ksenija Lukich

Birth Story: Eliza Sorman Nilsson

Obstetrician & Gynaecologist: Dr Bronwyn Devine

Producers: Ksenija Lukich & Tina Matolov

Audio Producer: Leah Porges 

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Support the show: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

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