Diary Of A Birth
Giving birth is a transformative experience. It’s raw. It’s real. It’s miraculous. And no two stories are the same. Diary Of A Birth brings you inside the delivery room to hear an extraordinary birth story every week. Hosted by Ksenija Lukich, with expert advice from Dr. Golly, you’ll hear the real life birth stories that are everything you don’t expect when you’re expecting.
Episodes
When Marni's IVF embryo spontaneously split at 13 weeks, she was excited to be bringing not one but two babies into the world. But over half way through her pregnancy her doctors discovered one of the rarest twin complications - TAPS.
In today's emotional episode, Marni shares how TAPS turned her pregnancy into a fight for survival, with one twin slowly losing blood while the other's blood became dangerously thick. Marni takes...
When Lauren planned her second birth, she envisioned a calm home birth with her private midwife—complete with a birth pool, fairy lights, and her trusted care team by her side. After feeling unsupported in the public system, she'd carefully crafted the perfect birth environment at 41 weeks.
But when labour finally began on a quiet Monday afternoon while her husband was at work, everything unfolded faster than anyone could hav...
After having to go under general anaesthetics for the birth of her first baby, Jordan spent her second pregnancy working with anaesthetists to ensure she'd be awake for baby Dakota's arrival. But when two spinal blocks failed and doctors warned they'd never given a third dose to anyone, Jordan had seconds to decide whether to go under or fight through the pain.
In today's episode, Jordan shares how witnessing Dakota's arrival&mdash...
Pregnancy is often described as a transformative journey, but for Briar, it became something far more complex. Having already navigated the life-altering experience of spinal surgery and disability in her twenties, she approached motherhood with both excitement and careful consideration. She'd rebuilt her life, regained her independence, and felt ready to embrace this new chapter.
From the very beginning of her pregnancy, however, ...
After navigating IVF and finally welcoming her beautiful daughter Camilla into the world, Anna Bamford's birth journey took an unexpected and frightening turn. In this weeks episode, Anna shares her story, and her journey to get answers for a medical complication which was initially dismissed, despite her growing intuition that something wasn't right.
When Anna lost nearly 1.5 litres of blood immediately after delivery, doctors ass...
After years of heartache, disappointment, and countless tears, Kirsten McLennan discovered her endometrial lining was too thin to nurture a pregnancy—a devastating revelation after multiple failed IVF attempts. When specialists suggested surrogacy might be her path to parenthood, Kirsten and her husband Ryan embarked on an emotional international journey filled with both crushing setbacks and beautiful moments of hope.
In tod...
When contractions began during a Succession marathon with her mum, Lucinda Pikkat wasn't particularly concerned—her husband Simon was asleep at home an hour away, and surely there would be plenty of time to alert him.
In today's episode, Lucinda shares how her third daughter Saachi followed her older sisters remarkable pattern of arriving precisely at 38 weeks. As labor progressed quickly and phone calls went unansw...
In this weeks episode, Seize the Yay's Sarah Davidson takes us through her emotional journey to motherhood—one made even more unique by her experience as a cross-cultural adoptee. From experiencing a heartbreaking missed miscarriage that left her waiting three painful weeks for a D&C procedure, to the surprising natural conception that followed unsuccessful fertility treatments; Sarah navigated her pregnancy with cautious...
Imagine discovering you're pregnant just two days after receiving a rare blood cancer diagnosis at 30. For journalist Elle Halliwell, this unimaginable scenario became reality when her routine health check revealed chronic myeloid leukemia—an incurable but treatable condition that would change everything.
Despite doctors advising she terminate the pregnancy to begin life-saving treatment, Elle made the extraordinary decision ...
When Mamamia's Head of Content, Eliza, found herself unexpectedly pregnant with her third child during what was meant to be a one-year Swedish adventure, life took a beautiful detour. But her planned C-section was not so routine when the spinal anaesthesia failed midway through, causing Eliza to feel the surgical procedure.
After a desperate plea for help and being rushed to be put ...
When 26-year-old Silje and her husband Jordan decided to expand their family beyond their 18-month-old son Mads, they never imagined what would happen next. In today's episode, Silje shares the breathtaking moment at her dating scan when the sonographer counted not one, not two, but three heartbeats—completely spontaneous fraternal triplets with no family history of multiples.
From navigating a high-risk pregnancy while carin...
This episode of Diary of a Birth contains graphic descriptions including blood loss and traumatic injury. Please proceed with caution. Additional resources can be found in the show notes.
A pop. A gush. And suddenly, a huge amount of blood running down her legs. What started as a peaceful first day of maternity leave became a fight for two lives when Sabrina Banayad experienced a rare and life-threatening placental abruption.
...From epidural to delivery in minutes—Nikolina's second baby Leo stunned even veteran doctors with his lightning-fast arrival.
Despite a physically "cruisy" pregnancy with her children just 16 months apart, Nikolina Koevska Kharoufeh battled intense anxiety about giving birth a second time. After casually attending brunch during early contractions, her labor rapidly intensified. Just as doctors prepared for her curved spine co...
Waters breaking in public, a head popping out in the shower, and neighbours rushing to help—Kate Longley's second birth took a very different path than planned!
In today’s episode, Kate shares how her birth with Jesse took a surprisingly swift turn when, shortly after her waters broke at home, she found herself cradling her newborn in the shower before help could even arrive. With no time to reach the hospital, Kate's n...
One embryo. Two heartbeats. After years of fertility treatments, Laura Parr found herself staring at an ultrasound screen showing the impossible—her single frozen embryo had split into identical twins.
In today's episode, Laura shares her extraordinary journey from having her son Lucas through IVF, to the shock of discovering her second embryo—frozen for two years—had developed into identical twins - with no histo...
It's Christmas morning, you're on all fours and your dad's just accidentally broken your waters.
This wasn't how Francesca Hung imagined birth - but we all know motherhood often arrives unexpectedly. In today's episode, the model and presenter shares the dramatic story of finding herself in active labour just 30 minutes after her first contraction, creating a Christmas morning her family will never forget.
Francesca recounts her da...
At 38, with no partner but unwavering determination, Bree embarked on a fertility journey that would test her resilience but ultimately fulfill her lifelong dream.
After navigating the emotional rollercoaster of two failed IUIs, Bree's persistence led her interstate where she accessed the Seattle sperm bank. From nine retrieved eggs emerged one perfect embryo—her miracle in waiting.
The most remarkable chapter? Bree opt...
When Minnie's home birth plans shifted to a hospital delivery after two days of stop-start labor, she didn't just accept her "Plan B" – she got creative. Her unexpected strategy? Dressing "like a celebrity avoiding paparazzi" complete with sunglasses, headphones, and clothes pulled over her head.
Despite synthetic oxytocin making contractions feel "like being hit by lightning," Minnie found herself overcome with relief and jo...
We all know that having a strong support system is vital during pregnancy and birth—but what happens when you're pregnant and your relationship is simultaneously falling apart? In today's episode, Simone Holtznagel discusses how her pregnancy journey coincided with relationship challenges that led to her becoming a single mother when her daughter Gia was just a few weeks old.
Simone also shares how she handled an epidural des...
After experiencing a traumatic emergency cesarean with her first child at just 28 weeks, Rikki Lee Calleja shares how her healing VBAC birth experience with daughter Lily five years later was so transformative, it inspired her to become a doula herself.
Through education, determination and support from her husband and doula, Rikki's successful vaginal birth after cesarean became a pivotal moment that helped her overcome past trauma...
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