Australian Birth Stories

In today’s episode,  I share with you my third birth. Although Jonathan and I had discussed having a third child, we had not made a final decision so it was a bit of a surprise when we discovered that I was pregnant. I was a bit nervous to tell Jono and I took some home pregnancy tests and watched as the lines got darker each day and it took a while to process. Ottie was conceived while we were on...

Jess was 24 years old when she fell pregnant with her first child Levi. She and her partner Phil had decided to try and fell pregnant in their first month of trying. Jess went through the public system and had midwifery care. When she reached 40 +10 Jess was induced. Jess fell pregnant with her second son when Levi was just 4 months old. To hear more about how Jess’ births went tune into this week...

In today’s episode, I interview Lou. Lou shares her four pregnancies and births. Three out of her four babies had Intrauterine Growth Restriction IUGR. Lou had her first baby in Perth and at her 20 week scan they realised her baby wasn’t growing as expected. She was induced at 34 weeks as the baby wasn’t growing as they had hoped and the growth started to become uneven. Lou’s second pregnancy went...

In today’s episode, I interview Rachel March. Rachel shares the birth of her little boy and her twin girls. Falling pregnant at 21 Rachel admired she knew very little about pregnancy and birth she just knew she wanted to have a baby. None of her friend’s had had kids it was all very unknown. Rachel’s pregnancy was considered high risk due to the fact that she was born with a condition called Long...

In today’s episode, I interview Kyree Harvey. Kyree tried for twelve months to conceive her first child. She believes stress play a major roll in her struggles to conceive coupled with the challenges of synchronizing her cycles with her husband’s FIFO roster. Kyree found her birth with Alaska very traumatic. She was induced and had an episiotomy that took many months to heal. Going into her second...

Pip is from Sydney but is currently living in Singapore. Pip spoke to her GP in the lead up to her wedding about falling pregnant. The doctor suggested she come off the pill as it can take a few months to begin ovulating again. Pip fell pregnant in the first month of coming off the pill. She was 20 weeks pregnant at her wedding. For her first pregnancy she went through shared care with her GP and...

In today’s episode, I interview Michelle. Michelle has two children of her own and she recently carried a baby as a surrogate. Michelle carried a baby Jack for intended parents Kate and Chris. Kate was born without a uterus and new from the age of 13 that she wouldn’t be able to carry her own child. The couples were connected through a surrogate information session and after they were approved thr...

In today’s episode, I interview Nikki. Nikki is a Paediatric physiotherapist living in Adelaide. Nikki and her husband conceived their first daughter through the assistance of IVF due to her husband’s previous history of treatment for testicular cancer. During her first pregnancy, Nikki suffered from an irritable uterus and an incompetent  cervix requiring her to take it very easy and take bed res...

In today’s episode,  I interview Sam about her two pregnancies and births. Sam went through the public health care system under the care of her mother, who was a midwife working at the Mater Hospital for her first pregnancy. At 38 weeks one of her midwives questioned whether the baby was in a breech position. Sam had a quick scan in the hospital to check and they confirmed they believed the baby w...

In today’s episode, I interview Jenna and Paul.  Jenna is a physiotherapist and Paul is an intensive care nurse. They decided late into their pregnancy that they wanted to opt for a home birth. At 32 weeks they hired a private midwife and had their first daughter at home. They took Rhea Dempsey ’s birth preparation course 'Embracing the intensity'. When they fell pregnant the second time around th...

In today’s episode, I welcome back to the show Alice Bingham. Alice shared her first two birth stories in Episode 18 on the podcast. Today she is sharing her third birth of little Lottie. Lottie’s pregnancy was quite different for Alice as the pregnancy was considered high risk for several reasons including the fact that she was in a breech position. To hear more tune into this weeks show. If you'...

In today’s episode Interview Kerrie. Kerrie was diagnosed with a complex cyst on her ovary and she was told it would be more challenging for her to fall pregnant. She was completely surprised to fall pregnant and be told her cyst had disappeared when she saw her doctor. Kerrie had planned to have a drug free vaginal birth and she was completely caught off guard when her first pregnancy ended in an...

In today’s episode, I interview Catherine Mack. Catherine fell pregnant on the first try which was quite a shock. She’d anticipated it taking a while and felt unprepared. Morning sickness came on quite fast and she was nauseous up until 32 weeks. Catherine booked in with an Obstetrician a friend had recommended and in her third trimester, she took She Births course. It was at this stage that Cathe...

In today’s episode,  I interview Rosie. Rosie fell pregnant quickly after starting to try to conceive, which was quite a surprise as she had a history of inconsistent periods due to eating disorders. As a physiotherapist, yoga and pilates instructor, Rosie kept very active during her pregnancy despite suffering all day sickness throughout her pregnancy. Rosie booked into a private obstetrician how...

In today’s episode, I interview Libby Trickett. Libby fell pregnant quite quickly after deciding to try.  At 7 weeks she had a dating scan to check where she heard the heartbeat. She saw her Obstetrician for her initial intake appointment at 9 weeks and sadly the baby had passed away at 8 weeks. When she discovered she was pregnant for the second time with Poppy she decided to announce the pregnan...

In today’s episode, I interview Jodi Wilson. Jodi shares the pregnancies and births of her four children.  As a yoga teacher and childbirth educator, Jodi brings a beautiful perspective to her interview. She even shares some breathing techniques and tools she used in her births. Whilst each of Jodi’s births was drug-free and under the care of midwives, they were all quite unique in their own way. ...

In today’s episode, I interview Ariane. Ariane shares how she conceived quite quickly after years of being on the pill. She was fortunate to find a spot at the Royal Womens Hospital in Randwick through their Midwifery Group Practice. Ariane took a Calm Birth course, read Ina May Gaskin’s books on natural child birth and prepared herself as best she could for a drug and intervention free birth. To...

In today’s episode, I interview Stacey Morlang Sullivan. Stacey was diagnosed with Polly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome PCOS at the age of  25. As a keen athlete, Stacey originally put down her lack of regular periods to her intense sports training. When she decided to start trying for a baby with her husband they tried for nearly 4 years. After booking in for IVF treatment, a week before her first appoi...

In today’s episode, I interview Amberley Harris. Amberley is a midwife and lactation consultant and she brings her knowledge and experience to today’s show. At 34 weeks at her baby shower Amberley’s friend, who is also a midwife discovered that her baby was breech. Amberley tried everything she could think of to turn her baby. She had an ECV done at 37 weeks which was unsuccessful. She then found...

Tarryn developed preeclampsia very early at just 19 weeks. Her symptoms began with severe swelling.  She continued to brush her symptoms aside as most of her symptoms were listed as standard in pregnancy. She had a blood test done and her blood pressure checked and she came back clear. At 23 weeks Tarryn developed a strong muscular pain between her shoulder blades. She also put on 5kgs of fluid ov...

If you'd like my FREE guide on perineal massage click If you'd like my FREE 5-minute breathing exercise click Follow us on Instagram to keep the conversation going. To learn more about The Birth Class  my online childbirth education course head to the shop  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode I interview Elayna Carausu and Riley Whitelum. Elayna and Riley have been sailing around the world on their yacht La Vagabonde and decided to try for a baby whilst they were sailing in the Caribbean. They were very fortunate to fall pregnant in their first month of trying to conceive. Living aboard the boat meant that they had ultrasounds and blood tests at a variety of differen...

In today’s episode, I interview Georgia. Georgia shares her pregnancy and birth of her little girl Frida. She had a relatively straight forward pregnancy. As an indigenous woman, she was offered a place Midwifery Group Ngarrama Program through the Royal Brisbane Hospital. To hear more about Georgia’s experience with Calm Birth and to hear how she was able to achieve a drug-free water birth in the...

In today’s episode I interview Courtney Thornton. Courtney shares with us her two births and her challenges with postnatal depression and breastfeeding. If you'd like my FREE guide on perineal massage click If you'd like my FREE 5-minute breathing exercise click Follow us on Instagram to keep the conversation going. To learn more about The Birth Class  my online childbirth education course head to...

In today’s episode I interview Krissy Ropiha. Krissy shares her three pregnancies and births. She initially struggled to conceive due to Polly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and she sought out fertility treatment. With the help of Clomid Krissy was able to conceive her first son. Krissy had both her first two children through the private system and then decided to change things up for her third bi...