Pregnancy Uncut

Episodes

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  S7. Ep3. Sophie's story. When a concealed placental abruption changes everything. 28.08.2026 57m

  When Heidi was pregnant with her second child she and her partner made the decision to return to Australia to be close to family. Having managed an intercontinental flight at 34 weeks pregnant with a toddler in tow, she hoped things would be smooth from then on. Arriving in Australia, Heidi quickly signed up with an obstetrician and, with her due date in sight, they discussed a date for induction - a decision to make based mostly, to Heidi's understanding, on their preference as the pregnancy...
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  S7. Ep2. An unknown ending. A story of recurrent miscarriage, IVF and continuing secondary infertility. 16.06.2026 52m

  After the birth of her son Angus, Rebecca and her partner were keen to have a sibling for him and at the time had no reason to imagine that this would be anything but straightforward. However, what followed was a journey of recurrent miscarriage, including a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, emergency surgery and multiple IVF attempts. That journey is ongoing and Rebecca feels that there is impact in sharing her story without knowing the outcome, as many people are in that exact situation themselve...
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  S7. Ep1. An Impossible 'choice' - When the ultimate act of love is doing the unthinkable 12.05.2026 1h 5m

  When Alice went for her 20 week morphology scan she had no reason to be nervous. Her pregnancy had been straightforward and included doing all standard testing offered, but a noted anomaly of a small baby was quickly followed by referral to fetal medicine specialists, the discovery of soft markers on ultrasound and, after an amniocentesis, the words that would tip their world on its axis. Alice talks with Kara about the heartbreaking moment that baby Marley was diagnosed and the impossi...
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  S6. Bonus Episode. Caroline De Costa - A Lifetime of Leadership 10.10.2025 51m

  Few people can genuinely claim to have changed the course of healthcare but Caroline de Costa could do just that. Not that she would, for her - pioneering change and fighting for women's rights in healthcare is just part of the all-encompassing job of an obstetrician. With a career spanning decades, Caroline has been on the frontline of ensuring women have active choice over their reproductive health, from fighting for abortion rights in Ireland early in her career, to pioneering access to me...
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  S6. Ep10. Disrupting the status quo - When your birth plan provokes public debate 16.10.2024 1h 8m

  In our final episode for season 6, Kara talks to Dr. Imogen Hines about Induction of labour, specifically planned induction and the surprising reaction it can prompt. As an orthopedic doctor, Imogen was no stranger to research and so when she found out she was pregnant she didn't hesitate to put that to the test researching the birth that was going to be best for her and her baby. Based on her findings and on her personal situation she decided to book for a planned induction at 39 weeks. As...
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  S6. Ep9. Informed consent. The cornerstone of maternity and obstetric care. 27.09.2024 1h 12m

  In this episode we are thrilled to welcome back to the podcast, Amy Dawes - co-founder and CEO of the Australasian Birth Trauma Association to talk with Kara about informed consent. This was the theme of this year's birth trauma awareness week and Kara and Amy do a deep dive on just why it is so important. When Amy was last on the podcast she spoke openly about her personal journey of birth trauma and living with levator avulsion. Now, some years on we welcome her candor as she talks about h...
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  S6. Ep8. Outside of my own body. When birth triggers long-buried trauma 05.09.2024 43m

  Hayley is a qualified trauma counsellor and mum of two. With her education and expertise she felt well equipped to manage her own trauma from sexual assault, particularly when her first birth was straightforward. Going into her second Hayley felt prepared and excited. However, in the midst of her labour and birth she found herself disassociating and unable to reach anyone who would be able to help her. Bravely sharing her raw yet insightful story, Hayley teaches us how past trauma can impact ...
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  S6. Ep7. The memory of a sound - how vividly our birth experiences stay with us 23.08.2024 45m

  Family is everything to Renee. At 95, she is a living legend, and our oldest guest on Pregnancy Uncut. Renee' s memory is impressively sharp and despite her age, her experiences of her five births remain vivid and profound. Renee now has three grown up children, but she also has two children no longer earthside: she is a survivor of her time, to say the least. Renee is one of ten (10!!) and grew up in a time where resilience reigned and preventable deaths were part of life. She's live...
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  S6. Ep6. 'Love from Dad': A bereaved father's journey through birth trauma, grief and advocacy 18.07.2024 59m

  When his partner Maddy went into labour with their second child, Matt was excited to meet the new addition to their family, but a cord prolapse leading to emergency surgery, saw him instead, alone in a waiting room looking at the seemingly motionless hands of a clock. When Baby Wren was born, she required intensive breathing support, and soon afterwards Matt and Maddy had to make the impossible decision to palliate or transfer her to Melbourne to see if specialist help could save her. Wren sp...
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  S6. Ep5. When a nagging feeling becomes a confirmed diagnosis - Breast Cancer in Pregnancy. 02.07.2024 45m

  After a complex fertility journey and a birth and post-partum overshadowed by Covid, Isla was hopeful that she was through the complexity and her journey to her next baby would be more straightforward. At first, this seemed to be the case - as Isla naturally fell pregnant with second baby Freddie. Everything seemed to be going well when Isla discovered a lump on her breast. Thinking it was likely nothing, possibly mastitis or something connected to the changes of her body in pregnancy, Isla ...
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  S6. Ep4: Into the unknown: Navigating a congenital CMV diagnosis. 13.06.2024 1h 9m

  When Candice took her baby boy Emmett home from hospital he had twice failed the standard hearing tests. However, no one seemed too concerned, her pregnancy had been uncomplicated and everything seemed well. However an outpatient audiology consult that should have taken a couple of hours, lasted nearly a full day and maternal instinct started tingling. At the end of that day she was told that Emmett had permanent hearing loss on one side and they were referred for further testing ...
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  S6. Ep3. Birth of a Feminist – An interview with RANZCOG Vice President Dr. Nisha Khot 24.05.2024 55m

  In this episode we side-step from our usual content to hear the considered insights of Dr. Nisha Khot. Nisha grew up, studied and practiced to become a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in India - where 'a feminist was born'. After further training and working in the UK she landed on Australian shores, practising and training the next generation of O&G specialists, many (including our co-host Kara) are all the better for it. Working as a consultant, Nisha realised that the i...
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  S6. Ep2. When a picture hides the true story – An inspiring journey of IVF, miscarriage and hope. 12.05.2024 1h 9m

  Pip had always seen herself having a family and as a driven and organised obstetrician she had clear expectations about how, and when, that might happen. But rarely do fertility journeys unfold as we expect. After an initial miscarriage that instantly her interactions and understanding of the women in her care, she found herself on an IVF journey that would bring heartbreak, complications, twists and turns that she could never have predicted. Now a mum of four, the family picture...
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  S6. Ep1. Uterine Transplant. The medicine behind a miraculous second chance. 01.04.2024 51m

  Following the birth of her first child, Violet, Kirsty experienced a large post partum haemorrhage, which required a hysterectomy to save her life. This would seem to spell an end to her fertility journey and Kirsty, who had always imagined more children, began conversations around surrogacy. However, she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that she desperately wanted to carry another child herself. Still deep in postpartum, Kirsty began a journey of discovery about uterine t...
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  S5. Ep5. Inconceivable. Solo motherhood and donor conception 09.05.2023 41m

  Alexandra had always imagined being a mum, but the onset of baby hunger in her late 30s, while a long term relationship with a man who didn’t share her dream, led to a change in direction. After moving back in with her parents, a series of bad dates, time began to outrun her reproductive age, so Alexandra made the pragmatic decision to go it alone using donor sperm. What followed was a journey of discovery; leading her family through their unease and grief of an expected path, encount...
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  S5. Ep4. Yelling into a void. Why are we still not talking about severe perineal trauma? 28.03.2023 50m

  Nine years on from a traumatic birth that led to a fourth degree tear, Verity still finds herself wondering if there is more she could have done; asked a different person, articulated herself differently, said the magic words that would have got her the help she so desperately needed. The reality however, is that she pushed and pushed and pushed. Went down every avenue, was articulate in her concerns, her needs and her emotional vulnerability. Had it not been for her mother and a GP who fina...
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  S5. Ep3. Far from home. A farming mum's journey with fetal heart block and long distance care. 28.02.2023 48m

  Married to a busy farmer and working as a midwife at their nearest hospital, Marnie’s dream was always to have her family born and bred close to home. She was just 19 weeks pregnant with her second baby, when her rural GP obstetrician found that baby's heartbeat was around half what it should have been, and diagnosed fetal heart block - a rare condition that would shape the pregnancy, birth, and first months of baby Amelia's life. What followed was the opposite of what Marnie had envi...
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  S5. Ep2. Reborn from Tragedy. How stillbirth both breaks and shapes a mother. 06.02.2023 38m

  Heidi is mother to three children but her firstborn, Harry, was stillborn at 38 weeks after a seemingly straightforward pregnancy. The delivery of that news, that no expectant parent should ever hear, was done in a way that lacked the care and compassion it warranted and that memory continues to loom large. Returning home, Heidi and her family were lucky to be surrounded by love and support but there were still moments where she felt isolated and alone. That unique and difficult insigh...
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  S5. Ep1. 'Childless: A story of freedom and longing'. In conversation with Sian Prior 16.01.2023 46m

  An accomplished writer, musician, journalist, broadcaster and climate activist, Sian Prior has led a fulfilling life. However, she has always felt a chasm where her child should have been and it is only recently that she has given herself the space and compassion to acknowledge the grief that has been with her throughout much of her adult life as a result The grief connected to Sian's journey of infertility and recurrent miscarriage carries its own weight, but has been further exacerba...
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  S4. Ep 11. Spina Bifida: One family’s heartbreaks, and new hope with intrauterine surgery. 30.11.2022 58m

  Claudine had been having a normal second pregnancy but when her 20 week scan showed abnormalities and she received the heartbreaking news that her baby, Sophie had severe Spina Bifida, her and her husband had two weeks to make the hardest decision of any parent. Soon after, Claudine fell pregnant for a third time and took every recommended precaution but again, this time at 18 weeks, she received the same devastating news of Spina Bifida with baby Willow already showing signs of multiple com...