Australian Birth Stories

In this week’s episode I interview Kylie who shares the story of her two eventful births; a surprise footling breech and an accidental homebirth. After coming off the pill and not having a period for a year, Kylie went to her GP for blood tests and an internal ultrasound. She was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and referred to a fertility specialist who recommended clomid to assist with ovulatio...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Lou about her three births. She discovered at 34weeks that her first baby was breech. After a failed ECV she sought a hospital that supported vaginal breech births and subsequently changed caregivers at 39 weeks to achieve the birth she wanted. Her second birth, under the care of midwives, was smooth and straightforward but afterwards, with two babies under 18mont...

In this week’s episode I interview Keira Rumble about her long, challenging road to motherhood. After multiple miscarriages, a traumatic heterotopic pregnancy and a subsequent PTSD diagnosis, Keira discovered she had stage 4 endometriosis. She sought a new fertility specialist, was diagnosed with a rare blood clotting disorder and embarked on her first round of IVF which led to her pregnancy with...

In this week’s bonus episode I interview Emily - the first of The Birth Class students to have a baby. From conceiving during the lockdown in Melbourne to birthing her baby boy in Sydney’s current lockdown, Emily shares the highs and lows of her pregnancy, including her experience learning from the midwives, doulas and birth educators featured in The Birth Class. As an informed first-time mum she...

In this week’s episode I chat to Elodie about her three births. As a first-time mum she was happy to let her birth unfold without doing much preparation. By the time she was pregnant with her third baby and preparing for a VBAC2 (Vaginal Birth After 2 Caesareans) she understood the power of knowledge, embraced months of mental and physical preparation and surrounded herself with educated, informed...

In this episode I interview Nerique about her missed miscarriage. It was an experience that completely blindsided her but thanks to overwhelming support from online groups, she navigated her loss and started planning her next baby. A long cycle and painful periods prompted her to see a fertility specialist who discovered that scar tissue from her D+C had caused a blockage in her cervix. Once that...

In this week’s episode I interview Melanie who shares her experience as a BRCA1 gene carrier. With a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer, Melanie made the decision to have a double mastectomy five years ago. Despite a link between BRCA1 and low egg count, Melanie fell pregnant naturally and takes us through her pregnancy from first trimester morning sickness to hospital classes via...

In this week’s episode I interview Em about her pregnancy during lockdown. She was induced at 41 weeks and laboured for a long time alone in the maternity ward before she was transferred to the birthing suite where she experienced the cascade of intervention and birthed her baby boy via vacuum delivery. Em was four months postpartum when she disclosed her sadness to her GP and was subsequently dia...

In this week’s episode I chat to Amy Taylor-Kabbaz about her three births and her journey through matrescence. Amy speaks beautifully about the divided heart of motherhood; the pull to be the woman you were before birth and the desire to fully embrace the joy and challenge of being a mother. As she tells her birth stories she simultaneously shares her own transition into motherhood; the physical a...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Claire and Luke who are new parents to baby Beau. They talk in detail about Claire’s two miscarriages, specifically the lack of awareness surrounding the physical pain of the process. Before she fell pregnant for a third time, Claire discovered that she carries a blood clotting gene and her fertility specialist recommended blood thinning medication as soon as she...

In this week’s episode, I interview Olympic Athlete Alicia Lukas who gave birth in Tokyo during Covid. Despite every effort, Alicia accepted that no amount of spinning was going to turn her breech baby so she booked in for a planned caesarean with her private obstetrician. Covid rules dictated a lot of the experience - her husband watched the birth over facetime and was only allowed at the hospita...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Clare about her two planned caesarean births. Despite severe endometriosis, Clare fell pregnant easily and sailed through the first half of her pregnancy. However, at her 20 week scan she discovered that her baby had ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJ) and shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Her planned caesarean was straightforwa...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Tess who rang her local birth centre when she was six weeks pregnant to make sure she got in (hot tip for those of you hoping for continuity of care with midwives!). Like many first time mums, Tess was convinced she would go into labour early. No matter how many natural induction techniques she tried, nothing worked and she was left feeling defeated and unsure. Sh...

In this week's episode I chat to Alannah about her challenging pregnancies, NICU experiences and her sheer determination to breastfeed despite the hurdles. Her first pregnancy and birth was smooth sailing so when her waters broke at 19weeks with her second baby, she felt like her world had turned upside down. A long hospital stay ensued and she delivered baby Maisey at 29 weeks before enduring the...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Yahna about her experience with shared care (pregnancy care shared between a GP and the hospital). As she explains, she believed that shared care offered continuity of care when in actual fact, she was seen by many different midwives in her third trimester and treated as a number on the maternity ward. After days of spurious (false) labour she was induced but due...

In today’s episode I interview Steph Claire Smith who was first diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 21. She managed to regulate her menstrual cycles by focussing on health, wellness and regular acupuncture treatments and years later, fell pregnant easily. She timed her exhausting first trimester with stage four lockdown in Melbourne and sailed through the rest of her pregnancy, choosing to practise...

Due to many requests, I’m delighted to chat to Teigan McKinnon in this week’s episode. You can hear Teigan’s first birth story in episode 100 but today we talk about her recent twin birth with babies Violet and Audrey. Conceived via IVF, Teigan’s embryo split in two and at her first dating scan she discovered she was pregnant with twins. After being warned of the complications of identical MCDA tw...

I first interviewed Elise about the births of her three children in episode 42 Since then she has spent two years on a unique journey as a surrogate mum. She talks us through her initial calling to be a surrogate, the first meeting with the intended parents and the psychological screening required before the IVF process began. As Elise explains, it was not always a smooth, joyful experience and th...

In this week’s episode I interview Fiona @mydailybusinesscoach who shares her confronting experience of an emergency caesarean in London. She was discharged 24hours after birth and while she spent much of her first week at home anxious and sore, a visit from a gentle and wise lactation consultant was exactly what she needed to settle into new motherhood. After returning to Australia and setting up...

In this week’s bonus episode I chat to the delightful Georgia who takes us through her two pregnancies and births. Her surprise first pregnancy was a life-changing shock but she took it in her stride and delivered little Tex with the support of the midwifery team at Geelong Hospital. Her second pregnancy was as smooth as the first but she went into labour at the height of the national Covid lockdo...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Marley Morgan an Indigenous woman who is raising her three children on Gumbaynggirr land. After a surprise pregnancy at the age of 26, Marley was confronted by a variety of health concerns that took a toll on her mental health and led to an ante-natal depression diagnosis. Her journey into motherhood was challenging but when she reached out to her local mother’s g...

In honour of caesarean awareness month, I chat to Emma about her pregnancy and birth. Despite her intention to have a birth with minimal intervention, days of prodromal labour coupled with exhaustion, dehydration and obstructed labour due to baby’s position, led her to an emergency cesarean. Despite everything, Emma admits that she felt empowered and supported every step of the way, particularly i...

In this week’s episode I chat to Kristin; a mother of three who let her intuition guide her throughout her pregnancies and subsequently experienced three beautiful, empowering births (albeit not without their challenges). Five miscarriages in a fifteen-month period left her anxious and fearful but once she passed the 12 week mark with her son, Toby, she settled into her pregnancy and refused to le...

Sarah shares about her life with Type 1 Diabetes and the effect her diagnosis had on her conception and pregnancy. Sarah admits that she did minimal preparation for her labour and birth and while she went in with limited skills, she also experienced a severe lack of communication from the obstetricians and midwives caring for her, both during birth and postpartum. Her story is a really important o...

In this week’s episode, I chat to Sonia who discovered she was pregnant at the very start of the pandemic. She spent the following eight months immersed in birth documentaries and positive birth stories, intent on creating a birth space where she could be supported by her partner and her closest friends as she laboured. She speaks softly and with heart about her home water birth, the way she roare...