Pregnancy Uncut

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 Ge...

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...

In Episode 8 of Pregnancy Uncut, Ellie bravely shared her open and honest story of her third degree tear and post-partum incontinence.   After listening to this episode we knew there was so much in this topic to explore further. Birth injuries are truely one of the hidden aspects of pregnancy and birth. Women's bodies are incredible, and most people have a beautiful birth and recover well.  ...

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...

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...

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...

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 b...

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...

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...

Our introduction to Pregnancy Uncut.  Meet your hosts doctors Alex Umbers and Kara Thompson working in women's health. Hear what motivated them to start the project, and what to expect from the first season where they explore what its like when pregnancies do not go to plan. Topics include infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, obstetric emergencies, birth trauma, perinatal mental health, baby...

In the first episode, host Doctor Alex Umbers bravely walks us through her own personal experience of recurrent pregnancy loss. Focusing in on one particular late miscarriage at seventeen weeks due to premature rupture of membranes, and what pregnancy loss felt like for her and her partner.  She shares her own challenges as a doctor working in obstetrics,  and the healing journey after and subsequ...

Episode 2 explores Stefanie's story of birth trauma. Her third birth was all going to plan, when Stefanie suddenly and unexpectedly had a cardiac arrest and life threatening bleed after her baby was born. Her story unpacks her experience of the rare obstetric emergency (amniotic fluid embolism), her time in intensive care, and surviving birth trauma in the aftermath.  She explains how she and...