S3 Episode 2: A story of massive post partum haemorrhage. Waking to the loss of your uterus.

Living on a remote farm in rural NSW, Laura’s options for place of birth were limited by geography. Her local hospital provided care to the entire region, and offered personalized care led by a team of dedicated GP-Obstetricians and skilled local midwives. But with only a small number of births per year, there were no facilities for epidural during birth or specialist obstetrics services in the region. In this episode of Pregnancy Uncut, Laura walks us through the pregnancies and births of her four children. Following a caesarean birth for placenta praevia, Laura birthed vaginally after caesarean (VBAC) for her fourth baby. Immediately following birth, Laura suffered a catastrophic haemorrhage and was rushed via air evacuation to a larger hospital. She awoke many hours later in ICU to find out that she had needed over 40 blood products to save her life, and that her uterus had been surgically removed. Laura walks us through the trauma of her ICU stay, the grief arising from her unplanned hysterectomy and the moment her baby fixed her broken heart. Laura’s story is an important reminder of the inequity of access to healthcare in Australia, and the importance of supporting and resourcing pregnancy care for rural and remote families.