When radio presenter Jacinta Parsons was in her early twenties, she began to feel unwell. The symptoms were insidious at first, and easy to dismiss. When she was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a severe and chronic inflammatory bowel condition, Jacinta was so unwell that she required multiple hospital stays, invasive procedures, and ultimately, an ileostomy bag.  Incredibly it was during this period, when she felt her body was failing her, that Jacinta discovered, with joy, that she was pregnant. Jacinta shares with us her journey to motherhood through her high risk pregnancy and birth.  She describes how her experience of living with chronic illness led her to tiptoe through her pregnancies, feeling like she had won a prize that could be taken away at any moment. With trademark empathy and insight, Jacinta shares how the hidden world of chronic illness can impact on all aspects of birth and parenting, from the physical challenges of parenting with an ileostomy bag, to the parenting guilt that is compounded for those living with an invisible illness in an ableist world. 

When school teacher Laura began experiencing unusual symptoms during her third trimester, it was initially thought they might be related to pregnancy. But at 34 weeks, Laura’s symptoms dramatically worsened. At a visit to the hospital, Laura suddenly stopped breathing, and required intubation. Unexpectedly, brain scans revealed a large tumour, putting huge pressure on her brain as it grew during pregnancy. After watching Laura being wheeled away, her husband Torben was later informed that Laura would need urgent neurosurgery and that her condition was critical. At the same time he was told that an emergency caesarean had been required to stabilise Laura, and that he had a son. For the next five days Torben sat alternatively by Laura’s side in ICU, and his son’s side in NICU, not knowing if he would be raising his child alone. Against the odds, Laura awoke from her coma to meet her baby Jagger. First time mum Laura then faced months of recovery and rehabilitation, learning how to speak and to walk again, at the same time as learning to be a new parent. Thank you Laura and Torben for sharing your incredible story of parenting with an acquired brain injury, filled with strength, acceptance and resilience.

When Kat was 15 years old, her previously pain-free life changed forever. Crippled with severe pelvic and abdominal pain, Kat was suddenly unable to walk down the corridor, let alone attend school. But when her GP dismissed her debilitating symptoms as a ‘normal part of life’, a cycle of uninterested medical care, inadequate treatment and chronic pain began. It would take another 17 long years before Kat heard the word endometriosis from a doctor, and she was finally able to get a diagnosis for her severe gynaecological condition. In this episode of Pregnancy Uncut Kat shares her experience of infertility related to endometriosis, her twin pregnancy, and how the long years of dismissal by hospitals and health care workers informed her experience of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. 

Katrina Gorry is a woman accustomed to breaking boundaries. A professional football player and Olympian, she is one of Australia’s most loved sports stars. So when Katrina felt that she wanted to become a mother, she wasn’t prepared to let career timing, professional pressure, or the fact that she was single, stand in her way. Katrina is one of a growing number of women who are choosing to take their fertility into their own hands, to become parents on their own terms. Katrina talks us through her decision to commence IVF as a solo mum, the birth of baby Harper, and the challenges of raising her daughter whilst succeeding in the traditionally male-dominated arena of professional sport. Katrina also shares her history of an eating disorder and her previously difficult relationship with her body, brought on by the obsessive physical focus that is required of professional athletes. Katrina describes how the physical changes of pregnancy allowed her to see her body in a whole new light, and to be incredibly proud of what it can achieve. Katrina is a role model to young athletes, and in addition to that, she is now also a role model to aspiring solo mums everywhere.  

After the birth of her second child, Anna knew that her family was complete. But just as strongly, she knew that she wanted to be pregnant again. Since she was a teenager, Anna had been drawn to the idea of surrogacy, and the chance to give the ultimate gift to another family. With the support of her family, Anna embarked on a long, complicated, emotional, and ultimately life-changing experience. After meeting couple Matt and Brendan who desperately wished to have a child of their own, Anna underwent IVF, and carried her ‘surro-bub’ , a baby genetically unrelated to her, for nine months. Finally, she birthed Baker at home and then passed him into the arms of his intended parents. However the journey did not end here. For Anna, expressing breastmilk and navigating complex physical postpartum changes meant that whilst her brain knew intellectually that Baker was loved, safe, and where he needed to be, her body and her hormones were grieving a child that was no longer physically with her. Anna describes the sense of loss and rollercoaster of emotions that cultivated in a diagnosis of postpartum depression. Now on the road to recovery, Anna is able to reflect with love and pride on her incredibly selfless gift that resulted in a child and a family that could not have existed without her. 

Isabelle, a journalist and writer, has a son, a daughter, and seven angel babies. For women wishing to conceive, miscarriage is sadly a common experience. Around 40% of women with children experience a miscarriage at some point along their pregnancy journey. But for Isabelle, the pain of loss occurred not once, but seven times, with five of these miscarriages occuring back-to-back. In this episode, Isabelle shares her story of recurrent hope followed by heartache. She explains how the lack of attention and research into early pregnancy loss, combined with the current systemic failure of the medical system to recognise the impact of early pregnancy loss, let her down again and again. Recurrent miscarriage is fortunately rare, affecting less than 1% of the population, but it is a devastating condition that, with our current knowledge, often remains medically unexplained. In addition, there is often some social discomfort when people choose to share their stories with friends and family. As Isabelle notes, miscarriage combines everything we are uncomfortable about; Bleeding, vaginas, grief and loss. Isabelle is on a mission to change that. 

Anna and her partner were thrilled with the news that they would be expecting not one, but two identical twin girls. Anna was carrying monochorionic or MCDA twins, meaning her two girls were sharing one placenta. When the doctor explained the plan for her pregnancy, a long list of potential complications were briefly mentioned. But everything looked like it was progressing beautifully, and Anna allowed herself to imagine her life as a mum of two. But at 19 weeks, everything suddenly changed. Diagnosed with Stage 3 Twin-to-Twin Syndrome, Anna was rushed for surgery on the placenta of her unborn babies. The next day came the devastating news that one of her daughters had not survived the night. What followed was a tumultuous rollercoaster of grief, loss and a tiny sliver of hope. After her waters broke at only 21 weeks, Anna describes the way her ‘little one’ held space for her big sister in the womb as she held on, against all odds, to survive.  

When Jacqueline took her first born son home she appeared to be the embodiment of the idealized new mother. The house was clean, baby Arthur was sleeping and feeding well, and Jac was showered and neatly dressed. However beneath the flawless veneer, Jac’s family began to notice some cracks. Jac’s behaviour began to seem increasingly bizarre, and some of her comments seemed strange. But Jac had no history of mental health conditions, and she didn’t seem depressed. Her odd behaviour could be easily explained away. But underneath the smile and endless energy, Jac was living a nightmare. She was hearing strange voices, and her thoughts were increasingly chaotic. Bizarre and terrifying delusions began intruding into her world, making it impossible for her to distinguish between hallucination and reality. Jac was suffering from Postpartum Psychosis; a rare but often catastrophic psychiatric emergency. In this episode, Jac bravely shares her story and helps shed light on this terrifying but poorly understood pregnancy condition. She shares how the love and support of her family and husband James helped her through her darkest of days. 

When Dominique was pregnant with her first child, she had an intuition that something wasn’t quite right. Despite being categorized as low risk, and all her ultrasounds and tests being normal, Dom couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her baby. Following the birth of Zoey, Dom’s worst fears were realized. Instead of enjoying quiet skin to skin with her newborn daughter, there were suddenly emergency buzzers and doctors streaming into the room. Zoey wasn’t breathing, and was rushed with her dad Greg to the Royal Children’s Hospital. Dom was left alone in the birthing room, not knowing what was happening to her daughter. In this episode, Dom takes us through the next four harrowing weeks at the RCH, as the nurses and doctors tried to pinpoint the mystery of why Zoey was born so unexpectedly unwell, and when the heartbreaking moment came to turn off her life support. Dom reflects on her brief but beautiful time with Zoey, how the experience continues to shape her life in positive ways. Dom talks about how the passing of time over the years has allowed her to appreciate all the wonderful things she does have in life, and to be grateful for getting the chance to carry and meet Zoey. 

When Bec, a first time mum, began feeling tired, short of breath and a little dizzy, her symptoms could easily be put down to the normal physiological changes of late pregnancy and birth. By the end of pregnancy, a healthy woman's blood volume has expanded by 50%, the heart is working harder and faster, and oxygen requirements are significantly higher. But every so often, these seemingly innocuous symptoms of late pregnancy can hide a much more sinister condition. A short time after the birth of her daughter Poppy, Bec found herself back in the hospital, surrounded by doctors, unable to breathe. Bec’s previously normal heart was failing. Her weak heart muscle was not able to pump the blood that her body needed, and her lungs had filled with fluid. Bec was drowning. What followed was a terrifying and emotional journey through peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare, but potentially fatal form of heart failure in pregnancy. Bec shares how the unwavering support of her family and partner, the trust she built with her care providers, and a shift to focusing only on the little things in life, helped her to slowly recover, one step at a time.