Diary Of A Birth

Dr Pat and Brigid talk about what to do once you have done a home pregnancy test and it is positive. This episode covers when to see a doctor, what happens at this first appointment, what all the blood tests are for, what estimated due dates mean, what an unsighted pregnancy is, what beta hCG is and what medical history needs to be discussed with your doctor. Plus loads more. If you have a questio...

She’s 10 days on. She’s splitting her time and her heart between home and hospital, and she wants to share her story with you, Outlouders.  Our beloved co-host Jessie Stephens gave birth to her boy-girl twins last week, earlier than hoped, and became a mum all over again. There will be so many of you who’ll relate to this story of terror-tinged joy, who will recognise the aw...

Welcome to Hello, Bump, a podcast about what you’re not expecting when you’re expecting. Each episode, we take you through exactly what's happening to you and your baby in each week of pregnancy. In this episode, hosts Jana Pittman and Grace Rouvray help you navigate finding out you’re pregnant, which often happens after a missed period around the four-week mark.  They&rsquo...

When Courtney thought her family was complete with two beautiful children, she was finally ready to focus on herself. After her doctor found pre-cancerous cervical cells following her first birth, she'd been advised to have a completion hysterectomy once her family was finished—and at 38, with a four-year-old and almost two-year-old, that time had finally come. Her hysterectomy was booked fo...

Content Warning: This episode discusses stillbirth, infant loss, and termination for medical reasons. Please proceed with care. After falling pregnant on their first time trying into their marriage, Darci and her husband were overjoyed to be expecting their first child—the first grandchild for both sets of parents. But what began as an uncomplicated pregnancy quickly transformed into a medic...

On this weeks episode, Ksenija introduces us to a previous chat Mamamia's Jessie Stephens had with Prue Thomas. At 19 Prue was setting up for a function at work when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. As the day went on, the pain increased, so Prue and her mum headed to the hospital. It was here, that Prue found out that her pain was actually labour. Prue was about to give birth, and up un...

In this weeks episode, Ksenija is pulling our attention back to an incredible interview between Jessie Stephens and Nothing To Wear & You Beauty host Leigh Campbell. When it comes to life, Leigh Campbell is very prepared. But there was one thing she really couldn't prepare for, the birth of her son. Because even the most well-intentioned of plans can be derailed in an instant, or in this case,...

When Carly's doctor told her it was time to consider surrogacy after 25 failed IVF transfers, her sister Sophie had already made an offer that would transform their family forever. After eight years of trying and watching all her siblings grow their families while she couldn't, Carly was about to embark on the most emotionally complex journey of her life. In today's episode, Carly vulnerably share...

On this weeks episode, we take a look back at an insightful interview Mamamia's very own Jessie Stephens had with Model and former Biggest Loser host Fiona Falkiner and her now wife, journalist Hayley Willis. They didn’t  really have a birth plan, Fiona did know two things. She wanted to be induced. And she didn’t want to see a pair of forceps in the room with her. So, did her bir...

When Marni's IVF embryo spontaneously split at 13 weeks, she was excited to be bringing not one but two babies into the world. But over half way through her pregnancy her doctors discovered one of the rarest twin complications - TAPS. In today's emotional episode, Marni shares how TAPS turned her pregnancy into a fight for survival, with one twin slowly losing blood while the other's blood became...

When Lauren planned her second birth, she envisioned a calm home birth with her private midwife—complete with a birth pool, fairy lights, and her trusted care team by her side. After feeling unsupported in the public system, she'd carefully crafted the perfect birth environment at 41 weeks. But when labour finally began on a quiet Monday afternoon while her husband was at work, everything un...

After having to go under general anaesthetics for the birth of her first baby, Jordan spent her second pregnancy working with anaesthetists to ensure she'd be awake for baby Dakota's arrival. But when two spinal blocks failed and doctors warned they'd never given a third dose to anyone, Jordan had seconds to decide whether to go under or fight through the pain. In today's episode, Jordan shares ho...

Pregnancy is often described as a transformative journey, but for Briar, it became something far more complex. Having already navigated the life-altering experience of spinal surgery and disability in her twenties, she approached motherhood with both excitement and careful consideration. She'd rebuilt her life, regained her independence, and felt ready to embrace this new chapter. From the very be...

After navigating IVF and finally welcoming her beautiful daughter Camilla into the world, Anna Bamford's birth journey took an unexpected and frightening turn. In this weeks episode, Anna shares her story, and her journey to get answers for a medical complication which was initially dismissed, despite her growing intuition that something wasn't right. When Anna lost nearly 1.5 litres of blood imme...

After years of heartache, disappointment, and countless tears, Kirsten McLennan discovered her endometrial lining was too thin to nurture a pregnancy—a devastating revelation after multiple failed IVF attempts. When specialists suggested surrogacy might be her path to parenthood, Kirsten and her husband Ryan embarked on an emotional international journey filled with both crushing setbacks an...

When contractions began during a Succession marathon with her mum, Lucinda Pikkat wasn't particularly concerned—her husband Simon was asleep at home an hour away, and surely there would be plenty of time to alert him. In today's episode, Lucinda shares how her third daughter Saachi followed her older sisters remarkable pattern of arriving precisely at 38 weeks. As labor progressed quickly an...

In this weeks episode, Seize the Yay's Sarah Davidson takes us through her emotional journey to motherhood—one made even more unique by her experience as a cross-cultural adoptee. From experiencing a heartbreaking missed miscarriage that left her waiting three painful weeks for a D&C procedure, to the surprising natural conception that followed unsuccessful fertility treatments; Sarah na...

Imagine discovering you're pregnant just two days after receiving a rare blood cancer diagnosis at 30. For journalist Elle Halliwell, this unimaginable scenario became reality when her routine health check revealed chronic myeloid leukemia—an incurable but treatable condition that would change everything. Despite doctors advising she terminate the pregnancy to begin life-saving treatment, El...

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 pu...

When 26-year-old Silje and her husband Jordan decided to expand their family beyond their 18-month-old son Mads, they never imagined what would happen next. In today's episode, Silje shares the breathtaking moment at her dating scan when the sonographer counted not one, not two, but three heartbeats—completely spontaneous fraternal triplets with no family history of multiples. From navigatin...

This episode of Diary of a Birth contains graphic descriptions including blood loss and traumatic injury. Please proceed with caution. Additional resources can be found in the show notes.  A pop. A gush. And suddenly, a huge amount of blood running down her legs. What started as a peaceful first day of maternity leave became a fight for two lives when Sabrina Banayad experienced a rare and li...

From epidural to delivery in minutes—Nikolina's second baby Leo stunned even veteran doctors with his lightning-fast arrival. Despite a physically "cruisy" pregnancy with her children just 16 months apart, Nikolina Koevska Kharoufeh battled intense anxiety about giving birth a second time. After casually attending brunch during early contractions, her labor rapidly intensified. Just as docto...

Waters breaking in public, a head popping out in the shower, and neighbours rushing to help—Kate Longley's second birth took a very different path than planned! In today’s episode, Kate shares how her birth with Jesse took a surprisingly swift turn when, shortly after her waters broke at home, she found herself cradling her newborn in the shower before help could even arrive. With no t...

One embryo. Two heartbeats. After years of fertility treatments, Laura Parr found herself staring at an ultrasound screen showing the impossible—her single frozen embryo had split into identical twins. In today's episode, Laura shares her extraordinary journey from having her son Lucas through IVF, to the shock of discovering her second embryo—frozen for two years—had developed i...

It's Christmas morning, you're on all fours and your dad's just accidentally broken your waters. This wasn't how Francesca Hung imagined birth - but we all know motherhood often arrives unexpectedly. In today's episode, the model and presenter shares the dramatic story of finding herself in active labour just 30 minutes after her first contraction, creating a Christmas morning her family will neve...