Speaker 1: You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2: Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
Speaker 2: that this podcast is recorded on. We pay our respects
Speaker 2: to elder's past, present and emerging and feel privileged to
Speaker 2: continue the sharing of birth stories and knowledge that has
Speaker 2: been a fundamental part of Indigenous culture.
Speaker 3: Hi.
Speaker 2: I'm Cassanna Lukit and this is diary of her birth.
Speaker 2: Today we hear the story of a second time mum
Speaker 2: who was keen to emulate her perfect birth with number one.
Speaker 4: And I was like, oh, I've had all the chili,
Speaker 4: I've had the pineapple, I've done this, and I've done that,
Speaker 4: and she said, look, the only thing that's going to
Speaker 4: work is semen. So got home, had the most comical
Speaker 4: sex you've ever could imagine, Like it was hilarious. But
Speaker 4: then within two hours later, my water broke. She did
Speaker 4: everything right for her own body in this second pregnancy,
Speaker 4: but of course bub had other plans. I was naked.
Speaker 4: It was like a two day ben die. You know why.
Speaker 4: I'd been there for like seven hours and Cam actually
Speaker 4: said that I was starting to drift underwater, like in
Speaker 4: between the surges. But after the birth she had to
Speaker 4: deal with a form of one of the scariest pregnancy conditions.
Speaker 4: It's super super rare, but it was really scary because
Speaker 4: they're like, if we don't control this, like you could
Speaker 4: actually have a stroke. But her story works out beautifully
Speaker 4: and then at the end my husband was like, you
Speaker 4: are incredible and I've had enough energy. It would have
Speaker 4: been like I fucking know. So let's get into it
Speaker 4: and meet today's mum.
Speaker 5: Hi.
Speaker 4: I'm Jills Robinson and this is the Diary of my
Speaker 4: birth with Carter.
Speaker 2: Jules is one of Australia's most love personalities. We watched
Speaker 2: her and Cam fall in love on TV and now
Speaker 2: we get to see their family grow. Jules can laugh
Speaker 2: like all mums about how busy she thought her pre
Speaker 2: baby life was.
Speaker 4: Well, I thought I was busy. Then I look back
Speaker 4: and think, God, my life was blissful and I was
Speaker 4: still very busy, but I just had so much more
Speaker 4: spare time. It was something that I always wanted, was
Speaker 4: to have children in my thirties. That's when it kind
Speaker 4: of hit me like, yep, I want to have a child.
Speaker 4: Before that, I never really thought about it. I had
Speaker 4: a little bit convincing to do with my husband to
Speaker 4: get him to speed up to where I was because
Speaker 4: I'm a little bit older than him. But a honeymoon,
Speaker 4: we started trying and two months later I was pregnant.
Speaker 4: You know, all those tests that I did, lived in
Speaker 4: fear for five years. I really shouldn't have wasted so
Speaker 4: much energy on thinking that maybe it wasn't going to happen.
Speaker 4: Because a chart telling me that I had low count
Speaker 4: and all that, I just put my hand up. I
Speaker 4: did my head in for no reason, and within two
Speaker 4: months I was very fortunate and manifested that little baby
Speaker 4: into my life. My birth with Olli, my first son,
Speaker 4: was like my birth wish came completely true. It was
Speaker 4: a four hour berth. All the effort I put into
Speaker 4: my hypno birthing, it really was amazing. My husband was amazing,
Speaker 4: and I couldn't have asked for a better birth wish
Speaker 4: that really did happen for me.
Speaker 2: We love hearing about these incredible berths that follow their plan.
Speaker 2: But like many new mums, Jewels found the next step
Speaker 2: a real challenge. Bringing him home was really hard. I
Speaker 2: look back on it now and afterwards.
Speaker 4: I was diagnosed with pre mensial dyspic disorder, and that's
Speaker 4: when It really hit home after getting my first period
Speaker 4: after having Ollie, and it was a really testing time
Speaker 4: having a newborn, got my ol plates on, and then
Speaker 4: having to deal with this diagnosis at the same time.
Speaker 4: But Jewels soon settled into motherhood and it wasn't long
Speaker 4: until she started wanting to add to her brood. We
Speaker 4: started trying for Carter baby number two when Ollie was
Speaker 4: about not even two years old. We were like, yep,
Speaker 4: let's give it a go. So it took two years
Speaker 4: really for it to happen. I really discovered the aa
Speaker 4: aadic medicine and went down that route, and when I
Speaker 4: had my first consultation, it just the penny dropped. There
Speaker 4: was no way my body was going to make a baby.
Speaker 4: It was on fire. So I really had to tap
Speaker 4: into my calm, my meditation. I stopped doing any adrenaline
Speaker 4: kind of exercise, and I really believe all this contributed
Speaker 4: to me falling pregnant again. As I said, it took
Speaker 4: nearly two years to even when it actually happened, I
Speaker 4: was like, oh my god, is this actually real? Like
Speaker 4: the line was so faint and I had it on
Speaker 4: every angle possible, and I'm like, is it there is
Speaker 4: it just because I wanted to be there, and yeah,
Speaker 4: it happened, it just didn't feel real because I've been
Speaker 4: waiting so long for.
Speaker 2: It And now that she'd entered a new decade, Jill's
Speaker 2: found this second pregnancy a different experience.
Speaker 4: I do believe that it hits different in your forties.
Speaker 4: I really do. Like I was so fit this time.
Speaker 4: I was the personal trainer up until five days before
Speaker 4: I gave birth, But there were times in the evening
Speaker 4: where I'm like, is that like gonna move in front
Speaker 4: of the other. It was quite tabilitating, but overall, like,
Speaker 4: I really enjoy being pregnant. The first trimester a little
Speaker 4: bit sick or the usual things, but the second I
Speaker 4: am on full force, I am nesting. I just get
Speaker 4: shit done. Like I actually really enjoyed that about being pregnant.
Speaker 4: And then as I got bigger Ideah, it was a
Speaker 4: little bit debilitating but absolutely healthy.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I'm one of those like annoying people that say I
Speaker 4: love being pregnant, like I love watching my body change.
Speaker 4: I love all that. So after an enjoyable but tiring pregnancy,
Speaker 4: the end came into sight for Jewels. So at the
Speaker 4: end of my pregnancy, I was super fit up until
Speaker 4: the very last minute. I've been at water aerobics. On
Speaker 4: the Saturday, I had acupuncture to bring on the birth
Speaker 4: as well. On the Saturday, I had a thing about
Speaker 4: it falling on exactly the same day because my first
Speaker 4: child was on d Day, and I was like, this
Speaker 4: one's going to come to it, So anything's in time
Speaker 4: in my life is my children. So I had the
Speaker 4: acupunture and I got off the bed and my stomach
Speaker 4: had dropped so much. It was quite painful having that acupuncture,
Speaker 4: and I'm quite sensitive to things, so by that evening
Speaker 4: I was really starting to get the feels. And my
Speaker 4: parents came because they were going to stay with us
Speaker 4: for a week when we brought this child into the world,
Speaker 4: so that was fantastic. And then on the Monday it
Speaker 4: didn't come all the fields. And then on the Monday
Speaker 4: two days later, I went into water aerobics and in
Speaker 4: the pool there was a midwife who funnily enough, ended
Speaker 4: up seeing in hospital at Northern Beaches a couple of
Speaker 4: days later, and I was like, Oh, I've had all
Speaker 4: the chili, I've had the pineapple, I've done this, and
Speaker 4: I've done that and done this. She said, look, the
Speaker 4: only thing that's going to work is semen. And I
Speaker 4: was like, really, where's out? And she's explaining how it's
Speaker 4: got something in it that helps open up be a
Speaker 4: pelvic floor. And I was like, she because it's almost
Speaker 4: like being in juice, Like it's the same. There's something
Speaker 4: in it that's the same. Anyway, So I was like okay.
Speaker 4: So I got home, had the most comical sex you've
Speaker 4: ever could imagine, Like it was hilarious. But then within
Speaker 4: two hours later, my water broke. So there's got to
Speaker 4: be something in that. There you go, an old wives
Speaker 4: tale proven true. Later in this episode, you'll hear the
Speaker 4: science behind this from doctor Gollye and what other tricks
Speaker 4: you can do at home that are proven to bring
Speaker 4: on labor. Right, So, Jules's water had broken, and it
Speaker 4: broke like the movies, not like a little trickle. It
Speaker 4: was like, oh my god, this is like the movies,
Speaker 4: which genuinely doesn't happen like that. So and I was
Speaker 4: lying on the couch and I have my son in
Speaker 4: my hands and I was bringing on the oxytocin. I
Speaker 4: was just stroking him and feeling all the love and
Speaker 4: he fell asleep and I actually was getting up to
Speaker 4: go to bed, which was actually not great then going
Speaker 4: into labor, because I was like so knackered by you know,
Speaker 4: eight o'clock at night, as you do in the last
Speaker 4: Droe mister Yeah. And I got up and it was like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, Wow, Okay, we're on and because of
Speaker 4: my last birth being in four hours, ring the hospital
Speaker 4: and they're like you get in here quick, girl, because
Speaker 4: it's gonna happen. So packed our bags and off we went,
Speaker 4: coming up. And then I was on the floor and
Speaker 4: they're like, you got to get up to the bed,
Speaker 4: and I just was like this mountain goat. I was like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, it's just so far away. So after
Speaker 4: a quick drive to the hospital, Jewels and camp pulled
Speaker 4: up around a quarter to nine that night. I was
Speaker 4: definitely starting to get the surges and feeling it, and
Speaker 4: I used a tennis machine on my first burd and
Speaker 4: hands up, I will tell anyone that will listen, if
Speaker 4: you're wanting to give birth or you're tougher with any
Speaker 4: kind of pain, this machine basically tricks your brain of
Speaker 4: where the pain is and it takes your mind off
Speaker 4: what's happening, and it honestly is a game changer, especially
Speaker 4: because I was going in with the ambition to have
Speaker 4: a natural birth again as in meaning nothing no chemicals,
Speaker 4: like you know, no needles or anything like that. So
Speaker 4: I got into hospital and my husband is useless on
Speaker 4: no sleep, so I knew that I had a little
Speaker 4: bit to go until I was going to get to
Speaker 4: the place. I was like, you go to sleep and
Speaker 4: I'll be here. So I had my meditation tape some
Speaker 4: on really got in the zone, bouncing up and down,
Speaker 4: and then I just kind of got a bit over
Speaker 4: the hypno voice, like it gets a little bit after
Speaker 4: a couple of hours, I'm done with you. And I
Speaker 4: spent about six months making a birth wish playlist on Spotify,
Speaker 4: and every midwife's like, oh my god, your music's amazing.
Speaker 4: And it really was like Belses that you can sing
Speaker 4: just songs that you know, a little bit of romance,
Speaker 4: a little bit of cheese, like just a really good
Speaker 4: playlist that is just perfect in that setting. I know
Speaker 4: what you're gonna ask, which bangers does Jules Robinson have
Speaker 4: on her birthday playlist? Well, let's take a dive in
Speaker 4: to listen.
Speaker 5: I Love you down to your bom naked in faith.
Speaker 4: It on me that way, you know, I bebb there you.
Speaker 5: Say I've got enough, And I saw my reflection in
Speaker 5: snow booties.
Speaker 4: So after I got to about four hours where you know,
Speaker 4: the midwife was like she didn't check if I was dilated,
Speaker 4: because she's like, you really do know your body and
Speaker 4: you're very in tune with it. She's like, you just
Speaker 4: do what you need to do. And after about four hours,
Speaker 4: like I just wasn't feeling like I was getting to
Speaker 4: the next level. Like I was like, it's coming, it's near,
Speaker 4: but I know that there was a lot more to go.
Speaker 4: So my tens machine basically wasn't on that high, like
Speaker 4: I was just channeling through it. So she came in
Speaker 4: and she said, look, my intuition tells me that your
Speaker 4: water hasn't fully broken. I'm like, really, oh my god,
Speaker 4: you should have seen what happened on the floor in
Speaker 4: my hallway. So she got out this thing that I
Speaker 4: can only explain as like a big knitting needle, and
Speaker 4: she then inserted it to break my water. And she
Speaker 4: was right. It was basically I'd done four or five
Speaker 4: hours of the head just hitting on this little puddle
Speaker 4: of water in a sack, which is why after birth
Speaker 4: I then got pubist symphonius disorder, which is basically just
Speaker 4: that belting on the pelvic floor. Like I just reallyok
Speaker 4: that bone was so painful, like I couldn't walk about
Speaker 4: a week afterwards, like it was sliding. There was no
Speaker 4: lifting of the feet at all. So once she did that,
Speaker 4: and also but in that moment, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 4: I'm bored of this. I'm bored of this scenario. And
Speaker 4: I wanted also to have a different berth than last time,
Speaker 4: just to experience something new. So I got into the
Speaker 4: bath and within like honestly three minutes like not to
Speaker 4: one thousand from her then piersing the water. So in
Speaker 4: the bath I enjoyed it. It wasn't for me though.
Speaker 4: I did a couple of hours and eventually like I
Speaker 4: was knacked. It was like a two day bender, you
Speaker 4: know why. I'd been there for like seven hours, and
Speaker 4: Cam actually said that I was starting to drift underwater
Speaker 4: like in between the surges because I was so tired,
Speaker 4: like I really gave it my all. But I also
Speaker 4: think that I wasn't letting myself get to the next stage.
Speaker 4: I don't know, I just wasn't sold on the whole
Speaker 4: water thing. I enjoyed. It was different. It was good
Speaker 4: to do something different. So anyway, I got out and
Speaker 4: I was having a little bit gas by that point,
Speaker 4: and they were like, okay, let's get you back to
Speaker 4: the bed, and oh my god, like from the bath
Speaker 4: to the bed was like a million miles away, and
Speaker 4: I was like, okay, I can do it. Anyway, I
Speaker 4: got there, and of course they must put like towels
Speaker 4: in ovens or something in the hospital because I was freezing,
Speaker 4: and also the fact of having to get out of
Speaker 4: the water and get over there was quite you know,
Speaker 4: not the most pleasant thing. So I got out and
Speaker 4: there wrapped me up in the sheet and got me
Speaker 4: warm really quickly before the next contraction was coming. And
Speaker 4: I just was like, give me gas, give me my
Speaker 4: tens and everything. So I finally got it on and
Speaker 4: then I was on the floor and they're like, you
Speaker 4: gotta get up to the bed, and I just was
Speaker 4: like this mountain goat. I was like, oh my god,
Speaker 4: it's just so far away. And by this time I
Speaker 4: was on a bit of gas, so everything was just
Speaker 4: like airy fairy. And then Cam and I looked at
Speaker 4: each other in the eye and if by this time
Speaker 4: it was like oh six am, you know, I'd been
Speaker 4: at it like and I'd been giving at my all
Speaker 4: and we looked at each other and when you know
Speaker 4: your partner inside it out, our eyes just basically said,
Speaker 4: if I'm not fully dilated, I don't care, like to
Speaker 4: get this baby out of me, I do not care
Speaker 4: what happens like because I'm done anyway. So of course
Speaker 4: checked and they're like, you're fully dilated, this is it,
Speaker 4: And I just was like, I just had to dig
Speaker 4: so deep. And yeah, the gas was great. Gas highly
Speaker 4: recommend giving birth and a tens machine and I remember
Speaker 4: clicking the tens machine so far that my stomach was
Speaker 4: contracting at the same time. And then I remember thinking,
Speaker 4: oh my god, what if I've gone to the end,
Speaker 4: because I knew there was still more that was going
Speaker 4: to more pain was going to come, so then I
Speaker 4: had to retract it back and then go again. And yeah,
Speaker 4: and you know what's really amazing. On my birth wish
Speaker 4: playlist in my home, I have for my first son
Speaker 4: a beautiful big artwork that has like Northern Beach's Hospital
Speaker 4: or the date that he was born in the time
Speaker 4: and his birth song, which was Rise Up and it
Speaker 4: has the music the sound notes of it printed and
Speaker 4: to my son Carter, I actually gave birth to that song.
Speaker 4: It was actually really really amazing and I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: that's so special because it's such a beautiful, empowering song.
Speaker 4: And yeah, so anyway, it was thirteen hours in the
Speaker 4: end and it was oh and then at the end
Speaker 4: my husband was like, you are incredible, and I've had
Speaker 4: enough energy. It would have been like I fucking know.
Speaker 4: So Jules had finally done it. I wondered if she'd
Speaker 4: change anything if she could. It was amazing. It was
Speaker 4: really hard, like if I go again, like I think
Speaker 4: I might do an epidural, like it was like the
Speaker 4: four hours the first time, Like oh my god, that
Speaker 4: was amazing, Like just going in and out and have
Speaker 4: a baby like this was this took every bit of
Speaker 4: energy from me. And as I said, like, it does
Speaker 4: hit different in your forties, like I just my body.
Speaker 4: It feels different having a baby this time round. Maybe
Speaker 4: because it's the second one. I don't know, but yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean I love the process of giving birth. I think,
Speaker 4: you know, as a woman, it's the most amazing thing
Speaker 4: you can go through. Jules had done the incredible birthed
Speaker 4: a beautiful baby boy. But unfortunately the health concerns didn't
Speaker 4: stop when Carter came out. So I was in hospital
Speaker 4: only for the two days, which was great, but I
Speaker 4: could start to feel I had really bad mistitis the
Speaker 4: first time round, like so badly that I had to
Speaker 4: go back to hospital for five days. So I was
Speaker 4: very on the fence of like, oh, should I breastfeed
Speaker 4: again because I was so sick last time. I couldn't
Speaker 4: actually look after my baby like I'm talking like my
Speaker 4: scalp hurt my skin her like, I was so ill.
Speaker 4: So I thought, nah, give it a go, give it
Speaker 4: a go. And I did try, and then I came
Speaker 4: home forty eight. I was in the hospital for two days.
Speaker 4: I came home and the midwife came out and my
Speaker 4: blood pressure was so high that they then said, look,
Speaker 4: you have to go back to hospital. And I was like,
Speaker 4: all right, find the positive. I got back to hospital,
Speaker 4: but at least I can use their fantastic pump and
Speaker 4: I can, you know, really get going on that while
Speaker 4: I'm sitting in there waiting for the doctors and the
Speaker 4: tests and everything. So I went back in there and
Speaker 4: I think I pumped like ten meals or something, you
Speaker 4: know like that. And yeah, unfortunately, my blood pressure just
Speaker 4: kept on rising like super super high. I had I'd
Speaker 4: had had a headache for two days, but I just
Speaker 4: didn't really think about it. And it turns out I
Speaker 4: had pre eclempsia, which is something that you generally get
Speaker 4: when you are pregnant towards the end. So this is
Speaker 4: like it's super super rare. But it was really scary
Speaker 4: because they're like, if we don't control this, like you
Speaker 4: could actually have a stroke or you could you know.
Speaker 4: And I'm there just go, oh my god. All I'm
Speaker 4: trying to do is get some milk out of me
Speaker 4: in here. I've been told that. So yeah, that wasn't fun.
Speaker 4: Wasn't That wasn't fun at all? And then so then
Speaker 4: I was in hospital for another three days with that.
Speaker 4: And then my boobs, oh my god, my boobs. I
Speaker 4: had four frozen Huggies nappies on me because they were
Speaker 4: just like you never see anything like it. And then
Speaker 4: I just had to because I was like, I just
Speaker 4: made the decision. I was like, you know what, it's
Speaker 4: not for me. I could I could start to feel
Speaker 4: that feeling and the PTSD of what I went through
Speaker 4: that I just had to shut it down, which meant
Speaker 4: two sports bras the ice and just no stimulation, like
Speaker 4: do not touch your boobs at all, and it worked.
Speaker 4: I did three days of doing that and it went away.
Speaker 4: But with the pre ACCLEMSA, I had to They eventually
Speaker 4: found the medication that suited me that it wasn't making
Speaker 4: it go away and then come back again to the
Speaker 4: same level. But yeah, that was a bit sad, like
Speaker 4: I was. I had a bit of a bit of
Speaker 4: a cry and a bit of a sob for myself.
Speaker 4: And the midwives were amazing, like they came and took
Speaker 4: him one night and just walked around the hallway and
Speaker 4: that just because I just needed to sleep and I'd
Speaker 4: got I just was so emotionally hormonally, and then that
Speaker 4: on top and I just was like, oh, this wasn't
Speaker 4: in the plan, you know, But that's what happens, isn't it.
Speaker 4: You never know what actually is going to happen when
Speaker 4: it comes to giving birth coming up. But the seriousness
Speaker 4: of it was if I didn't get it under control,
Speaker 4: like I could have had a stroke, so you know,
Speaker 4: which is just devastating to think, like, here you are
Speaker 4: with this beautiful thing that's just happened, and then there's
Speaker 4: this side effect.
Speaker 2: We'll hear more from doctor Golly soon, but Jules's condition
Speaker 2: is incredibly rare. But it's such a wild time when
Speaker 2: you get home with the baby and your body has
Speaker 2: been through well trauma. So I'm fascinated by what made
Speaker 2: Jewels go, Okay, this isn't just post birth pain, this
Speaker 2: is something more.
Speaker 4: When I had the headache for two days, I just thought,
Speaker 4: I'm just really tired. I'm just you know, I'm up
Speaker 4: every two hours. I just didn't really think of it.
Speaker 4: But when she was saying where and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 4: like right in the middle of my forehead, and then
Speaker 4: I've kind of got this feeling in my neck.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: All the symptoms were very spot on to what happens
Speaker 4: when you get pretty cclemsia. So it just meant that
Speaker 4: I had to take medication every day and then go
Speaker 4: and get my blood pressure checked all the time, which
Speaker 4: was not to see the most annoying part like coming
Speaker 4: to go to the doctors of the pharmacy, like you know,
Speaker 4: every couple of days and I'm fine now, but it
Speaker 4: was a scary thought that this could be forever, this
Speaker 4: could be I'm taking blood pressure tablets. I'm like, I
Speaker 4: don't want to do that, Like I'm healthy, I've never
Speaker 4: had I've never had a blood pressure problem in my
Speaker 4: whole life. So no one knows why it happened. It's
Speaker 4: just something we had to find a solution there. And
Speaker 4: then I'm pretty impressed that Jewels was able to manage
Speaker 4: some self care and stay in tune with herself during
Speaker 4: this tricky time, which is really really hard but so crucial.
Speaker 4: I think, you know, being in tune with your body
Speaker 4: is so important. But you know, hands up in that moment,
Speaker 4: like I didn't care about me, Like I just was like,
Speaker 4: oh no, I'll be fine. I don't want to get
Speaker 4: back to hospital, like I just wanted to be at
Speaker 4: home and nesting. But the seriousness of what it was,
Speaker 4: if I didn't get it under control, like I could
Speaker 4: have had a stroke, so, you know, which is just
Speaker 4: devastating to think, like here you are with this beautiful
Speaker 4: thing that's just happened, and then there's this side effect.
Speaker 4: So I think, you know, it is really important as moms,
Speaker 4: like we don't sometimes put ourselves first or heal and
Speaker 4: we think, oh, yeah, I'll get that checked eventually, and
Speaker 4: you don't, but you do have to. You know, the
Speaker 4: best place for me was in hospital in that moment,
Speaker 4: I just had to surrender to it because I really
Speaker 4: didn't want to be there.
Speaker 2: So what is something that Jules wishes all pregnant women
Speaker 2: you ahead of their births.
Speaker 4: Something I don't think people talk about is that you
Speaker 4: birth are placenter. Honestly, you like what I'm going to do?
Speaker 4: What Like, I did not prepare for that first time around,
Speaker 4: And yeah, I just think birthing a placenta is like
Speaker 4: it's literally like having another baby. I planted mine in
Speaker 4: the garden and put an olive tree on the top
Speaker 4: of it for my first son, and I've actually got
Speaker 4: my placenta still in the fridge at the moment. I
Speaker 4: still haven't decided what plan I'm going to put over it.
Speaker 4: But yeah, the placenter thing. But one thing I learned
Speaker 4: second time around is that I watched the video back
Speaker 4: actually of me giving birth to my first son, because
Speaker 4: they then come around and they just put a needle
Speaker 4: in my leg, which brings on the birth of the placenta,
Speaker 4: and it's basically just like being induced, but a smaller
Speaker 4: and I was like, oh my god, really, so I've
Speaker 4: gone all this effort to try and not have any
Speaker 4: chemicals in me. Then I did that without even really knowing.
Speaker 4: So this time around, I actually on my birth wish
Speaker 4: I was that person everyone on the door and the
Speaker 4: midwife's like, no, we love people that do this. I'm like, yeah, right,
Speaker 4: they're probably out in the hall way going, oh god,
Speaker 4: she's a been and the ass isn't g But it
Speaker 4: was one of my things that I wanted to hold
Speaker 4: the baby first. I wanted Cam and I to say
Speaker 4: what the sex was because I'm like, we waited ten
Speaker 4: months for this, so we're going to see that first.
Speaker 4: And also it was to naturally birth the placenta and
Speaker 4: to not have that injection and to not you know,
Speaker 4: have those chemicals put in me. So it did take
Speaker 4: a little bit longer. But yeah, Bert like, people go,
Speaker 4: you what, like, yeah, I don't think we talk about
Speaker 4: that enough.
Speaker 2: Well, lucky enough to have the services and wisdom of
Speaker 2: doctor Golly, one of the country's top pediatricians, to provide
Speaker 2: answers to the medical questions that come up in our stories.
Speaker 2: So Jules and Cam employed the old sex to bring
Speaker 2: on the baby trick to get jewels moving. Here's doctor
Speaker 2: golly On and how on earth this works? And what
Speaker 2: are some other Old wives tales that doctors believe actually
Speaker 2: help when you're very keen to get labor moving.
Speaker 3: I love this question, and my god, Cam will absolutely
Speaker 3: hate me for saying this, But there isn't a huge
Speaker 3: amount of science to back this up. As you can imagine,
Speaker 3: it's not the easiest thing to study. But the answer
Speaker 3: actually is probably yes, because theoretically semen does contain prostaglandins.
Speaker 3: That's the substance which ripens the cervits, and sex also
Speaker 3: does release oxytocin in women, which increases the strength of contractions. Also,
Speaker 3: while we're on the topic, nipple stimulation, which is usually
Speaker 3: done by babies with feeding but can be done by partners,
Speaker 3: it certainly also releases oxytocin. So the answer is probably yes.
Speaker 3: Just don't do this stuff if there's a history of
Speaker 3: pre term labor. All of the other old wives tales,
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, Curry, long walks and stands.
Speaker 1: You name it. No, no, no, no no. Do what
Speaker 1: you enjoy is the bottom line.
Speaker 4: And even though it is more unusual to be diagnosed
Speaker 4: with preer clamsia after birth rather than during pregnancy.
Speaker 2: It's always a scary outcome. Here's doctor Gollie on what
Speaker 2: pre clamsia is and how we can try to avoid it.
Speaker 1: So preclamsia, well, a clamsier comes from the Greek word
Speaker 1: for lightning, which is a way of describing the seizures
Speaker 1: that can occur during or after childbirth. The real reason
Speaker 1: and the real sort of explanation for what preclampsia is
Speaker 1: is because of uncontrollably high blood pressure, and we call
Speaker 1: that preclampsia. That is the best way to understand it
Speaker 1: is imagine that mum during pregnancy is beating that fetus
Speaker 1: through the placenta and the umbilical cord. If the cord
Speaker 1: and the placenta, which are only designed to last for
Speaker 1: nine months, if they happen to fail, if they start
Speaker 1: failing earlier than that, what's going to happen is that
Speaker 1: the fetus is getting less blood flow and so the
Speaker 1: feat to send a message quite intelligently back to the
Speaker 1: mum through the blood circulation. Would you mind sending some
Speaker 1: more blood please, because my supply is dropping and it's
Speaker 1: not an issue of volume. It's an issue of pressure.
Speaker 1: You've got to squeeze the blood through the placenta and
Speaker 1: then through the cord into the baby. So baby is
Speaker 1: sending messages to mum, please increase the pressure in the
Speaker 1: blood because I'm not getting enough. Now we know that
Speaker 1: the reason the baby's not getting enough is because, for example,
Speaker 1: we might have a failing placenta or one that's running
Speaker 1: out of juice. But the baby continues to not get enough,
Speaker 1: so continues to send these messages to the mum. And
Speaker 1: so she just increases her blood pressure again and again
Speaker 1: and again and again to try to fuel and feed
Speaker 1: that fetus. And that's where we have problems because while
Speaker 1: it does supply more blood pressure to the fetus, it
Speaker 1: also causes potential problems for mum. So preclaim it can
Speaker 1: happen anytime from twenty weeks onwards. It can even last
Speaker 1: for days and weeks after a baby's delivered. It's one
Speaker 1: thing I remember from my medical training during university. The
Speaker 1: only cure for preclampsia is delivery. So it accounts for
Speaker 1: actually fifteen percent of pre term deliveries because of maternal preclampsia,
Speaker 1: and it is quite a common condition we're talking about
Speaker 1: five to ten percent of pregnancies worldwide. So in terms
Speaker 1: of the dangers to mum, there is obviously the risk
Speaker 1: of pre term delivery, which is more of a danger
Speaker 1: to the baby, but then it also leads to high
Speaker 1: blood pressure and the mum protein in the urine and
Speaker 1: ultimately organ involvement, specifically brain, which is why we talked
Speaker 1: about seizures, but also the liver and the system that
Speaker 1: takes care of blood clotting. So it can happen anytime
Speaker 1: from twenty weeks of pregnancy, which is halfway, and it
Speaker 1: can last for days and even weeks after birth, as
Speaker 1: was the case with jewels. Look, the key is just
Speaker 1: good prenatal health, general health, and blood pressure. The list
Speaker 1: is quite predictable. You know, quit smoking, get a good
Speaker 1: amount of sleep, exercise. But really the most important thing
Speaker 1: is is understanding and appreciating that you can be the
Speaker 1: healthiest person on the planet and still get pre clamsy
Speaker 1: because it has to do with the health of the
Speaker 1: placenta and the cord and mirroad other reasons. The key
Speaker 1: is regular blood pressure checks during pregnancy, and in that case,
Speaker 1: some women will be commenced on different types of medicines,
Speaker 1: for example, low dose aspirin, but you've got to be
Speaker 1: checking that blood pressure quite frequently.
Speaker 4: To make sure that it's not being missed, so as
Speaker 4: regular listeners to this podcast will know. As well as
Speaker 4: exploring the wonderful world of birth, we're also passionate about
Speaker 4: discussing that all important forth trimester. It can be so
Speaker 4: easy to overlook during pregnancy. But what is Jules's advice
Speaker 4: when you get your baby home? Fourth trimester? Like there's
Speaker 4: something to be said about that, Like it's called that
Speaker 4: for a good reason, because really it's a bit tough.
Speaker 4: Obviously it's super happy because you've got this beautiful baby,
Speaker 4: but just that hormonal rollercoaster that you're on, Like I
Speaker 4: cried eighteen days straight this time, like just over little things,
Speaker 4: over big things. But you're just gonna give yourself that
Speaker 4: grace to know that like it's okay, and everyone is
Speaker 4: feeling the same way generally when you're in that stage.
Speaker 4: I think my best advice would be that, like you
Speaker 4: literally are a magician and you're a wizard like trush
Speaker 4: your instinct, Like I just think that superpower of a
Speaker 4: mother is that you just know, like you just learn
Speaker 4: those little noises and you know what they want and
Speaker 4: like that's when you're like, oh my god, I'm fucking awesome,
Speaker 4: Like I'm magic right now. So that to me, I think,
Speaker 4: trust your instincts and also like don't be hard on yourself,
Speaker 4: like you know, I said, like having little cries over nothing,
Speaker 4: like you know what, You're so allowed to just do
Speaker 4: whatever you need to do. And this time around, like
Speaker 4: I had my baby attached to me for like five weeks,
Speaker 4: like I slept with him, I you know, did everything
Speaker 4: like in my pillar, had it sitting up and in
Speaker 4: my arms, like I really again because I was like
Speaker 4: is this going to be the last time? I don't know,
Speaker 4: And I just wanted to suck in every little bit
Speaker 4: of him. And in a way it was like really
Speaker 4: in my first because they looked so identical, I was like,
Speaker 4: I'm living it again. Yeah, it was really. I did
Speaker 4: it a little bit differently this time, just because I
Speaker 4: think I'm in a different place than I was first time,
Speaker 4: as in you know, workwise, and that that I had
Speaker 4: the space to be able to go, Okay, everything can
Speaker 4: stop and then I'm just gonna be with this baby.
Speaker 4: And it was just beautiful. But yeah, I think that
Speaker 4: would be my number one thing to be, like, just
Speaker 4: trust your instincts and know that you know what that
Speaker 4: little person needs, and that's like such an amazing thing
Speaker 4: about being a mum.
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us on Diary of a Birth,
Speaker 2: where we celebrate all the amazing ways that we as
Speaker 2: women bring life into the world. If you'd like to
Speaker 2: share your birth story with us, we'd love to hear
Speaker 2: from you.
Speaker 4: Details are in the show notes.
Speaker 2: Diary of a Birth was hosted by me because then
Speaker 2: you like, with expert input from doctor Gollie, Audio production
Speaker 2: by Scott Stronach and our executive producer is Georgie Page.