January 14, 2025 • 20 mins
Lou Brown's journey seemed familiar - three healthy pregnancies with boys had prepared her for what she thought would be another straightforward experience. When she discovered she was expecting a girl, Lou was bursting with joy and confident for the road ahead.
However, a rare listeria diagnosis would dramatically alter her path. Isolated on a remote cattle property in rural Queensland, Lou found herself 130km from the nearest town Toowoomba, far from critical medical support. Her greatest strength would ultimately be her own remarkable resilience to meet the girl she yearned for.
Diary Of A Birth features mums telling their miraculous stories of bringing life into the world, and we have all medical questions and concerns cleared up by Australia’s favourite paediatrician, Dr Golly.
If you’d like to share your birth story, we’d love to hear from you at podcast@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note here.
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Host: Ksenija Lukich
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on. We pay our respects
to elders past, present and emerging, and feel privileged to
continue the sharing of birth stories and knowledge that has
been a fundamental part of Indigenous culture. Hi, I'm Kassnya
(00:45):
Lukich and this is diary of a birth. Living in
rural Australia can be a beautiful place to raise kids.
There's a serenity you just can't get in the city.
But if you're pregnant on a farm, that could also
mean long car trips. And as you'll hear today, this
beautiful baby clocked up some miles before she came through
(01:06):
Earth's side.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
When that course of antibiotics finished, I basically packed up
the family and I went to to wombat.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Today's mum had always yearned for a baby girl.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
We were joking, saying, oh, it'll be another boy. I've
got three boys. And she looked at me and she said,
oh my god, it's the girl.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
And after a dream run with her first three, she
would find herself in the fight of her life to
meet her baby girl.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
And the doctor must have said something to him, and
he came back and he googled and he.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Just shot a computer and book. Well, who knows what's
going to happen.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Today's mum showed incredible resilience in her journey. Let's hear
from her.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Now. Hi, my name is Lou, and this is my
birth story with Claudia.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Lou's story begins at home in rural New South Wales.
It's an idyllic setting.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
It's two thousand and nine. We're living on a.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Cattle property one hundred and thirty kilometers from town.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
We had three little boys.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Our first son had just started prep via distance education,
so we had a governess join our family, young girl
from New South Wales.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Her previous pregnancies had always been smooth, all boys, but
they felt their family was still missing something, and we.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Decided that I have one more baby.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So I got pregnant and the pregnancy was smooth sailing.
I've had three spontaneous vaginal deliveries without feeling a thing.
I mean, I had an epidural and so I just thought,
here we go again. This is going to be easy, right.
So with our first baby, I went to a bigger
(02:53):
center down into Woomba just to make sure that I
knew what I was doing.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
My body could do this.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And then I had the next two in a small
town called long Reach, and long Reach is a big center.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
You can have a baby there.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
There's no traffic lights, all McDonald's, but there's a flight
daily and you can have babies there. And so I
had planned to have my fourth baby there. So we
had the twenty week ultrasound with a friend of mine
and we were joking, saying, oh, it'll be another boy.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I've got three boys.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And she looked at me and she said, oh my god,
it's the girl. And I remember thinking, not me. I'm
not going to have a baby girl.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And I left the.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Hospital and I rang my twin sister and Claire and
Jessice Stevens will get this.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
And she's the only person I told that I was
having a girl.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Didn't even tell my husband. I didn't even tell him
that i'd found out what I was having.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
After that news, Lou was bursting with joy. But this
pregnancy felt different to the others.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
No, I was getting bigger, and at about thirty five weeks,
we were having a weekend in town with Matthew's family,
and I just was feeling sick, nauseated, like I had
a head cold, and I spent the whole weekend just
lying on the bed.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And my mother in law at the time said, that's
not like you. You don't normally and I was like, yeah,
I just.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Don't feel well. Something's not right. I had a really
high temperature and I was just sick.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
This was new territory, so she did the right thing
and sought medical attention.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
We went up to the hospital in Long Reach and
they admitted me because I'd hardly eaten.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I had a.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Really high temperature, and they said, we'll just give you
some fluids for a few days. You know, you probably
run down, you probably got some kind of virus. We
left the two year old in town with Matthew's mum
and I have the next ten days in hospital, sick,
high temperatures and I mean like raging temperatures, shivering, boiling hot.
(04:59):
I wasn't eating, I could hardly get out of bed.
And my GP kept saying to me, well, you know,
maybe it's swine flu. Who have you seen in the
last two weeks, And I was like the male lady.
So they quickly ruled out swine flu because the male
lady was well and fine flu and he took bloods
and on about day four took arterial bloods, which was
(05:23):
painful at the time, but I remember thinking, oh, well,
they're just trying to get to the bottom of it.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
The situation was changing rapidly. Can you imagine being that
far along in your pregnancy and having an illness that
is just a genuine mystery to everyone.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
The only thing they knew was that whatever I had,
the baby had because the baby had this incredibly fast
heart rate.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And there was a locum doctor in long Reach at the.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Time who came in to me and said, I think
we should be delivering your baby.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
You know you're so unwell, let's deliver the baby.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I'm thirty five, thirty six weeks pregnant, so I'm thinking
to myself, plenty of people have babies at thirty five
weeks and they saurlive. But my doctor Mark was saying, no, no,
but you're baby sick. You can't look after a sick
baby in long routs and the flying doctors a long
way away, so well, the baby's not coming out. I'm
not worried because the baby has a heart rate that's consistent.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Might be high, but it's consistent.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
As loose symptoms started to improve, her doctor made a
startling discovery.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I had just started to get a bit better and
he came in one day, and he had come in
every day and just.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Stood at the end of the bed and said, no,
I've got no news. Don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And he came in to say and he pulled up
a chair and he sat on the bed next to me,
and he said, I've just got your cultures back and
you have got listeriosa. And I said what he said,
You've got listeria. And I said that I haven't been
eating the soft cheese and he said, well, I know,
I've checked the bloods and that's what you have.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And then he said to me, I actually don't know
what to do. This is the first time.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
We've ever had anyone that's had it, so I don't actually.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Know what our plan of attack is. That here's some
things I've printed out.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I didn't have an iPhone or a laptop or anything,
so I.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Had no Google.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
He just gave me some printed out information and I
remember reading most women when they get lysteria go into
spontaneous labor and I'm thinking, well, that hasn't happened to me.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Listeria can lead to serious complications for mum and Bob,
so Lude needed serious treatment.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
He came back at the end of that day and said,
you've got to take some huge antibiotics. And it was
a Sunday. It was a Sunday morning and Matthew had
come to town and he had said to me, I'll give
you these antiotics and then you can go home, but
you have to take them religiously. And they said you
can't have your baby here. And I'm thinking, I'm thirty
(07:58):
six weeks pregnant. There's no way there's an obscrition that
will take me on in Brisbane or to Womba. And
he said, leave it with me. I'll get you into
your obstetrician. You went to into Womba. So I went
home on a Sunday and I hadn't been home for
(08:19):
so long.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Kids and Matthew was about to.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Watch the NRL Grand Final and he's having a beer
and I'm lying on the bed and the phone rang,
the landline rang, and one of the kids answered it
and brought the phone into me, and it was the
doctor Mark and he said you've actually got.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
To come back to town.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You actually have to go on IV antibiotics for five
to ten days.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So and I said, oh, well, can I come in tomorrow?
He said, no, You've actually got to come now up next.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Fearing the worst for her baby girl, Lou ventures further
from home to get the help she needs. Back in
the local hospital, Lou was under the close eye of doctors.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So I had five or six days.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
I can't remember really what that timeframe was, but I
was on full on IV antibiotics and they were waking
me every four hours. They weren't letting me go eight
at night. They were pumping me. And then when that
cause about EYBODICX finished, I basically packed up the family and.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I went to to Womba. I took our governess with us,
and I stayed with my father.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Into Woomba, and Uch stayed back here to run the property,
and he would fly down when I was having a baby.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Now she was in the big smoke, Lou was hopeful
her to Womba. Pediatrician had some answers obstrition.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
He basically just said to me, well, I've been practicing
thirty five years and I've never seen a lady with ysteria.
I'm not really sure what we're dealing with, so I
guess we'll send you off for a scan. And by
this time I'm thirty seven weeks pregnant or thirty eight maybe,
and the sonographer said, do you know what you're having?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I said, well, apparently I'm having a girl. And the
sonographer said, well, you are here girl, and then it
sort of dawned on me. I still didn't really believe it.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
And the next week I went in and I sat down.
He said, how are you feeling? And I said, oh,
I'm starting to feel sick again. I'm starting to feel
not great.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I don't know whether I'm just tired. And he said,
we don't really know what's going on. Let's just induce you.
I said, oh, okay, so tomorrow he said, oh. He
rang the hospital. He said, no, no, we'll put you
in tonight. We only had one mobile phone back then.
So I left the doctor and I rang. I tried
(11:04):
dream Matthew. I couldn't get onto him. So I rang
his mum and I said, look, I'm having a baby
tonight or tomorrow. I'm going into hospital tonight. He needs
to get on the plane today if he wants to
be there.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Well into her thirty eighth week of pregnancy, feeling as
sick as ever, Lou was at a crossroads what would
be best for her baby girl.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Anyway, he was at home here, and he left the
phone off the hook, and his father drove from town
out here to pick him up because.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
No one could get hold of him. By the time
he arrived in town, where it was nighttime. All the
boys were asleep. I hadn't had long labors, I hadn't
had quick labors. I knew that I had time. He
had time. I knew that I wasn't going to just
have a baby.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
And I said, have the morning with the boys, have
breakfast with them, and ring me, or I'll ring.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
You if I'm going into labor. Nothing happened overnight.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I woke up in the morning, was about seven point thirty,
and I rang him and said, no other broke my waters,
but nothing's really happening. And he said, I'm just having
coffee with your dad and the boys are having breakfast.
I'll leave it a couple of hours. I said, yeah,
don't worry, just come whenever.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Anyway.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
A couple of hours later, I was really starting to labor,
and I had this midwife who kept saying to me,
how you can do this, you can do it, and
I'm like, I'm using not to I need you to
ring underneath itist. So I rang Matthew back and I said,
you need to come. I am in labor like this,
not pretend labor.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I am in labor.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So it's go time in the hospital and hubbies on
the way.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So he came up. As he arrived, the obstration arrived,
and the obstration said to midwife, she wants it every dural,
so you better organize that. And Ethodus came in and
he and Matthew were having.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
A great old time talking about the rugby and I'm
just like, I don't have a baby. So I had
the epidural and all was well, and then my sister
wanted to come and be there when she was born.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
And it was about ten to eleven when she arrived
at the hospital and she's walking around the labeloard at
eleven o'clock, still was.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Very quiet with Leu's sister in the room. Baby Cordia's
arrival wasn't far off either. She came in at a
big and bouncing four kilos.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
She came in and she was born four kilos, no problem,
born on the eleventh of the eleventh. Put her up
on my chest, Matthews saying, oh, my fucking god, it's
a girl.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Frame our sister's going it's a girl. And I've looked
down and all her skin was all just peeling off,
and she was bright red.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
She didn't have that white vernex that all my other
babies had had. She was fat and healthy, but her
skin was all peeling. And the pediatrician stepped right in,
came right over to the baby and said, this looks
like a very overdue pregnant lady or a smoker, and
you're neither of those, so I'm going to see what
(14:23):
was going on in there.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
It was a huge relief that Claudia was finally here,
but the family were keen to know was everything okay.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
So by the time she'd had a varth the next day,
she had beautiful pink skin, nothing wrong, totally fine. And
the pediatrician came in and said to me a couple
of days later, well, I've been down and I've been
to the lab and we've guy sected your clas center.
And he said, really, the timing of the birth was
(14:54):
crucial because it was basically rotting inside of you and
she was not getting anything. She was merely surviving on
what she'd already hading whatever. And she said, cutting it open,
it just was full of infractions and was rotten around
the edge. So he said, no, wonder you were not
feeling well towards the end.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
In hindsight, Lou was thankful the doctor kept her in
the dark on the seriousness of the diagnosis.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And then I found out later that when I had
the diagnosis of listeria and I had to go back
to town to have the iv aty biotics and books
came back here and the doctor must have said something
to him, and he came back and he googled, and
he just shut the computer and book.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, who knows what's going to happen. Someone's going to die.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I didn't never google, but know who it's going to be.
But we'll just hope for the best. So we had
a really good outcome. The pediatrician said, if she's not
meeting em Milestone's come and see me in the next year.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But she's now fifteen and she's fine.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So with a happy ending, the question remains how did
lou possibly catch lysteria in the first place.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
After I was diagnosed with listeria, Queensland Public Health got
involved and they were like, the last known case was
watermelon in the weeks before you became unwell, What we eating?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And I was like, I'm a pregnant lady. What am
I not eating? But I knew that I hadn't eaten
watermelon because I don't like watermelons, so they could rule
that out.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
But they basically asked me everything, like on this date
when you.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Got up, what did you have?
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Anyway, they put it down to I've been in Long Route,
i bought a roast chicken.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I'd put it in the car, i'd got home, I'd
put in the fruit and I'd eaten it the next day.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
I live an hour and a half drive from Long Reach,
so that's what they put it down to.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And I do that, and I still do it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
This case brings up so many medical questions, and we're
lucky enough to have our resident pediatrician, doctor Gollie to
answer our questions. Here's what he has to say about
pregnancy with listeria.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
So Listemia is a food borne bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes.
It usually causes flu like symptoms, but as we've heard,
it has the potential to be devastating for a fetus.
How common is it There's about a million cases reported
worldwide each year. In Australia the numbers are about sixty
to eighty cases annually, so yes, it's tiny numbers, but
(17:33):
it's so dramatic given its high mortality rate, that we
really need to be aware of it. And of those
sixty to eighty cases in Australia, about ten percent are
in pregnant women, so we're seeing five, six, seven eight
cases like Lou each year.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
It's particularly dangerous for pregnant women because in the first
trimester it can cause miscarriage and later it can result
in still birth. More than that, if babies do survive
the pregnancy, as was with the case with Lou, there
can be very mild issues like we heard, but it
can also range to very severe issues like sepsis, blood poisoning, meningitis,
(18:09):
or even brain damage. This is the reason why we
we limit a maternal diet during pregnancy, so we say
no unpasteurized dairy, no raw meats, soft cheeses. Don't despair
if infection is confirmed because we do have antiotics and
they are effective. But the best thing to do to
avoid it during pregnancy avoid these types of food. Ensure
(18:30):
very safe food handling. Basically, be mindful of what you
eat and where you eat it. Always always err on
the side of caution and just think, you know what,
I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I'm eating for two.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
After such a dramatic birth and pregnancy, it would be
easy to forget about the fourth trimester. But lou is
a veteran mum, she's got four kids, So what is
her parting wisdom.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
I'd firstly like to say, vaginal pain free cesarean breast fed,
bottle fed. At the end of the day, you're all
going to be a mother. That doesn't matter how you
get there. You're all going to be a mother. I
have some controversial advice. I hear a lot of these
new mums that have the blackened room. Don't get the
blackout room, don't get the white noise machine. That baby
(19:21):
needs to be able to adjust to anything. And I
think later in life how they were going to adjust
if everything was perfectly set out for them. You're not
the first person to have a baby. You won't be
the last. And really, if in doubt, feed the baby.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
The hair dryer and not for your hair. Not for
your hair.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You're very delicate undercarriage after you've had a vaginal birth,
and use that hair dryer on the cool setting to
dry between your legs.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Thank you for joining us on Diary of a Birth,
where we celebrate all the amazing ways that we as
women bring life into the world. If you'd like to
share your birth story with us, we'd love to hear
from you. Details are in the show notes. Diary of
a Birth was hosted by me Kasenya Lukich with expert
input from doctor Golly. This episode was produced by Georgie
(20:13):
Page and Tom Lyon, with audio production by Scott Stronach.
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on. We pay our respects
to elders past, present and emerging, and feel privileged to
continue the sharing of birth stories and knowledge that has
been a fundamental part of Indigenous culture. Hi, I'm Kassnya
(00:45):
Lukich and this is diary of a birth. Living in
rural Australia can be a beautiful place to raise kids.
There's a serenity you just can't get in the city.
But if you're pregnant on a farm, that could also
mean long car trips. And as you'll hear today, this
beautiful baby clocked up some miles before she came through
(01:06):
Earth's side.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
When that course of antibiotics finished, I basically packed up
the family and I went to to wombat.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Today's mum had always yearned for a baby girl.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
We were joking, saying, oh, it'll be another boy. I've
got three boys. And she looked at me and she said,
oh my god, it's the girl.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
And after a dream run with her first three, she
would find herself in the fight of her life to
meet her baby girl.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
And the doctor must have said something to him, and
he came back and he googled and he.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Just shot a computer and book. Well, who knows what's
going to happen.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Today's mum showed incredible resilience in her journey. Let's hear
from her.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Now. Hi, my name is Lou, and this is my
birth story with Claudia.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Lou's story begins at home in rural New South Wales.
It's an idyllic setting.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
It's two thousand and nine. We're living on a.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Cattle property one hundred and thirty kilometers from town.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
We had three little boys.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Our first son had just started prep via distance education,
so we had a governess join our family, young girl
from New South Wales.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Her previous pregnancies had always been smooth, all boys, but
they felt their family was still missing something, and we.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Decided that I have one more baby.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So I got pregnant and the pregnancy was smooth sailing.
I've had three spontaneous vaginal deliveries without feeling a thing.
I mean, I had an epidural and so I just thought,
here we go again. This is going to be easy, right.
So with our first baby, I went to a bigger
(02:53):
center down into Woomba just to make sure that I
knew what I was doing.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
My body could do this.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
And then I had the next two in a small
town called long Reach, and long Reach is a big center.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
You can have a baby there.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
There's no traffic lights, all McDonald's, but there's a flight
daily and you can have babies there. And so I
had planned to have my fourth baby there. So we
had the twenty week ultrasound with a friend of mine
and we were joking, saying, oh, it'll be another boy.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
I've got three boys.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And she looked at me and she said, oh my god,
it's the girl. And I remember thinking, not me. I'm
not going to have a baby girl.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
And I left the.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Hospital and I rang my twin sister and Claire and
Jessice Stevens will get this.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
And she's the only person I told that I was
having a girl.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Didn't even tell my husband. I didn't even tell him
that i'd found out what I was having.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
After that news, Lou was bursting with joy. But this
pregnancy felt different to the others.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
No, I was getting bigger, and at about thirty five weeks,
we were having a weekend in town with Matthew's family,
and I just was feeling sick, nauseated, like I had
a head cold, and I spent the whole weekend just
lying on the bed.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And my mother in law at the time said, that's
not like you. You don't normally and I was like, yeah,
I just.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Don't feel well. Something's not right. I had a really
high temperature and I was just sick.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
This was new territory, so she did the right thing
and sought medical attention.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
We went up to the hospital in Long Reach and
they admitted me because I'd hardly eaten.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I had a.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Really high temperature, and they said, we'll just give you
some fluids for a few days. You know, you probably
run down, you probably got some kind of virus. We
left the two year old in town with Matthew's mum
and I have the next ten days in hospital, sick,
high temperatures and I mean like raging temperatures, shivering, boiling hot.
(04:59):
I wasn't eating, I could hardly get out of bed.
And my GP kept saying to me, well, you know,
maybe it's swine flu. Who have you seen in the
last two weeks, And I was like the male lady.
So they quickly ruled out swine flu because the male
lady was well and fine flu and he took bloods
and on about day four took arterial bloods, which was
(05:23):
painful at the time, but I remember thinking, oh, well,
they're just trying to get to the bottom of it.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
The situation was changing rapidly. Can you imagine being that
far along in your pregnancy and having an illness that
is just a genuine mystery to everyone.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
The only thing they knew was that whatever I had,
the baby had because the baby had this incredibly fast
heart rate.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And there was a locum doctor in long Reach at the.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Time who came in to me and said, I think
we should be delivering your baby.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
You know you're so unwell, let's deliver the baby.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I'm thirty five, thirty six weeks pregnant, so I'm thinking
to myself, plenty of people have babies at thirty five
weeks and they saurlive. But my doctor Mark was saying, no, no,
but you're baby sick. You can't look after a sick
baby in long routs and the flying doctors a long
way away, so well, the baby's not coming out. I'm
not worried because the baby has a heart rate that's consistent.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Might be high, but it's consistent.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
As loose symptoms started to improve, her doctor made a
startling discovery.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I had just started to get a bit better and
he came in one day, and he had come in
every day and just.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Stood at the end of the bed and said, no,
I've got no news. Don't know.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And he came in to say and he pulled up
a chair and he sat on the bed next to me,
and he said, I've just got your cultures back and
you have got listeriosa. And I said what he said,
You've got listeria. And I said that I haven't been
eating the soft cheese and he said, well, I know,
I've checked the bloods and that's what you have.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And then he said to me, I actually don't know
what to do. This is the first time.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
We've ever had anyone that's had it, so I don't actually.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Know what our plan of attack is. That here's some
things I've printed out.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
I didn't have an iPhone or a laptop or anything,
so I.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Had no Google.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
He just gave me some printed out information and I
remember reading most women when they get lysteria go into
spontaneous labor and I'm thinking, well, that hasn't happened to me.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Listeria can lead to serious complications for mum and Bob,
so Lude needed serious treatment.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
He came back at the end of that day and said,
you've got to take some huge antibiotics. And it was
a Sunday. It was a Sunday morning and Matthew had
come to town and he had said to me, I'll give
you these antiotics and then you can go home, but
you have to take them religiously. And they said you
can't have your baby here. And I'm thinking, I'm thirty
(07:58):
six weeks pregnant. There's no way there's an obscrition that
will take me on in Brisbane or to Womba. And
he said, leave it with me. I'll get you into
your obstetrician. You went to into Womba. So I went
home on a Sunday and I hadn't been home for
(08:19):
so long.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Kids and Matthew was about to.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Watch the NRL Grand Final and he's having a beer
and I'm lying on the bed and the phone rang,
the landline rang, and one of the kids answered it
and brought the phone into me, and it was the
doctor Mark and he said you've actually got.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
To come back to town.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You actually have to go on IV antibiotics for five
to ten days.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
So and I said, oh, well, can I come in tomorrow?
He said, no, You've actually got to come now up next.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Fearing the worst for her baby girl, Lou ventures further
from home to get the help she needs. Back in
the local hospital, Lou was under the close eye of doctors.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So I had five or six days.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
I can't remember really what that timeframe was, but I
was on full on IV antibiotics and they were waking
me every four hours. They weren't letting me go eight
at night. They were pumping me. And then when that
cause about EYBODICX finished, I basically packed up the family and.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I went to to Womba. I took our governess with us,
and I stayed with my father.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Into Woomba, and Uch stayed back here to run the property,
and he would fly down when I was having a baby.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Now she was in the big smoke, Lou was hopeful
her to Womba. Pediatrician had some answers obstrition.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
He basically just said to me, well, I've been practicing
thirty five years and I've never seen a lady with ysteria.
I'm not really sure what we're dealing with, so I
guess we'll send you off for a scan. And by
this time I'm thirty seven weeks pregnant or thirty eight maybe,
and the sonographer said, do you know what you're having?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I said, well, apparently I'm having a girl. And the
sonographer said, well, you are here girl, and then it
sort of dawned on me. I still didn't really believe it.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
And the next week I went in and I sat down.
He said, how are you feeling? And I said, oh,
I'm starting to feel sick again. I'm starting to feel
not great.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
I don't know whether I'm just tired. And he said,
we don't really know what's going on. Let's just induce you.
I said, oh, okay, so tomorrow he said, oh. He
rang the hospital. He said, no, no, we'll put you
in tonight. We only had one mobile phone back then.
So I left the doctor and I rang. I tried
(11:04):
dream Matthew. I couldn't get onto him. So I rang
his mum and I said, look, I'm having a baby
tonight or tomorrow. I'm going into hospital tonight. He needs
to get on the plane today if he wants to
be there.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Well into her thirty eighth week of pregnancy, feeling as
sick as ever, Lou was at a crossroads what would
be best for her baby girl.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Anyway, he was at home here, and he left the
phone off the hook, and his father drove from town
out here to pick him up because.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
No one could get hold of him. By the time
he arrived in town, where it was nighttime. All the
boys were asleep. I hadn't had long labors, I hadn't
had quick labors. I knew that I had time. He
had time. I knew that I wasn't going to just
have a baby.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
And I said, have the morning with the boys, have
breakfast with them, and ring me, or I'll ring.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
You if I'm going into labor. Nothing happened overnight.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
I woke up in the morning, was about seven point thirty,
and I rang him and said, no other broke my waters,
but nothing's really happening. And he said, I'm just having
coffee with your dad and the boys are having breakfast.
I'll leave it a couple of hours. I said, yeah,
don't worry, just come whenever.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Anyway.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
A couple of hours later, I was really starting to labor,
and I had this midwife who kept saying to me,
how you can do this, you can do it, and
I'm like, I'm using not to I need you to
ring underneath itist. So I rang Matthew back and I said,
you need to come. I am in labor like this,
not pretend labor.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I am in labor.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
So it's go time in the hospital and hubbies on
the way.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So he came up. As he arrived, the obstration arrived,
and the obstration said to midwife, she wants it every dural,
so you better organize that. And Ethodus came in and
he and Matthew were having.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
A great old time talking about the rugby and I'm
just like, I don't have a baby. So I had
the epidural and all was well, and then my sister
wanted to come and be there when she was born.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
And it was about ten to eleven when she arrived
at the hospital and she's walking around the labeloard at
eleven o'clock, still was.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Very quiet with Leu's sister in the room. Baby Cordia's
arrival wasn't far off either. She came in at a
big and bouncing four kilos.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
She came in and she was born four kilos, no problem,
born on the eleventh of the eleventh. Put her up
on my chest, Matthews saying, oh, my fucking god, it's
a girl.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Frame our sister's going it's a girl. And I've looked
down and all her skin was all just peeling off,
and she was bright red.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
She didn't have that white vernex that all my other
babies had had. She was fat and healthy, but her
skin was all peeling. And the pediatrician stepped right in,
came right over to the baby and said, this looks
like a very overdue pregnant lady or a smoker, and
you're neither of those, so I'm going to see what
(14:23):
was going on in there.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
It was a huge relief that Claudia was finally here,
but the family were keen to know was everything okay.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
So by the time she'd had a varth the next day,
she had beautiful pink skin, nothing wrong, totally fine. And
the pediatrician came in and said to me a couple
of days later, well, I've been down and I've been
to the lab and we've guy sected your clas center.
And he said, really, the timing of the birth was
(14:54):
crucial because it was basically rotting inside of you and
she was not getting anything. She was merely surviving on
what she'd already hading whatever. And she said, cutting it open,
it just was full of infractions and was rotten around
the edge. So he said, no, wonder you were not
feeling well towards the end.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
In hindsight, Lou was thankful the doctor kept her in
the dark on the seriousness of the diagnosis.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And then I found out later that when I had
the diagnosis of listeria and I had to go back
to town to have the iv aty biotics and books
came back here and the doctor must have said something
to him, and he came back and he googled, and
he just shut the computer and book.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, who knows what's going to happen. Someone's going to die.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I didn't never google, but know who it's going to be.
But we'll just hope for the best. So we had
a really good outcome. The pediatrician said, if she's not
meeting em Milestone's come and see me in the next year.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But she's now fifteen and she's fine.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So with a happy ending, the question remains how did
lou possibly catch lysteria in the first place.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
After I was diagnosed with listeria, Queensland Public Health got
involved and they were like, the last known case was
watermelon in the weeks before you became unwell, What we eating?
Speaker 1 (16:23):
And I was like, I'm a pregnant lady. What am
I not eating? But I knew that I hadn't eaten
watermelon because I don't like watermelons, so they could rule
that out.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
But they basically asked me everything, like on this date
when you.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Got up, what did you have?
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Anyway, they put it down to I've been in Long Route,
i bought a roast chicken.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I'd put it in the car, i'd got home, I'd
put in the fruit and I'd eaten it the next day.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
I live an hour and a half drive from Long Reach,
so that's what they put it down to.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And I do that, and I still do it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
This case brings up so many medical questions, and we're
lucky enough to have our resident pediatrician, doctor Gollie to
answer our questions. Here's what he has to say about
pregnancy with listeria.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
So Listemia is a food borne bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes.
It usually causes flu like symptoms, but as we've heard,
it has the potential to be devastating for a fetus.
How common is it There's about a million cases reported
worldwide each year. In Australia the numbers are about sixty
to eighty cases annually, so yes, it's tiny numbers, but
(17:33):
it's so dramatic given its high mortality rate, that we
really need to be aware of it. And of those
sixty to eighty cases in Australia, about ten percent are
in pregnant women, so we're seeing five, six, seven eight
cases like Lou each year.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
It's particularly dangerous for pregnant women because in the first
trimester it can cause miscarriage and later it can result
in still birth. More than that, if babies do survive
the pregnancy, as was with the case with Lou, there
can be very mild issues like we heard, but it
can also range to very severe issues like sepsis, blood poisoning, meningitis,
(18:09):
or even brain damage. This is the reason why we
we limit a maternal diet during pregnancy, so we say
no unpasteurized dairy, no raw meats, soft cheeses. Don't despair
if infection is confirmed because we do have antiotics and
they are effective. But the best thing to do to
avoid it during pregnancy avoid these types of food. Ensure
(18:30):
very safe food handling. Basically, be mindful of what you
eat and where you eat it. Always always err on
the side of caution and just think, you know what,
I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
I'm eating for two.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
After such a dramatic birth and pregnancy, it would be
easy to forget about the fourth trimester. But lou is
a veteran mum, she's got four kids, So what is
her parting wisdom.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
I'd firstly like to say, vaginal pain free cesarean breast fed,
bottle fed. At the end of the day, you're all
going to be a mother. That doesn't matter how you
get there. You're all going to be a mother. I
have some controversial advice. I hear a lot of these
new mums that have the blackened room. Don't get the
blackout room, don't get the white noise machine. That baby
(19:21):
needs to be able to adjust to anything. And I
think later in life how they were going to adjust
if everything was perfectly set out for them. You're not
the first person to have a baby. You won't be
the last. And really, if in doubt, feed the baby.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
The hair dryer and not for your hair. Not for
your hair.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You're very delicate undercarriage after you've had a vaginal birth,
and use that hair dryer on the cool setting to
dry between your legs.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Thank you for joining us on Diary of a Birth,
where we celebrate all the amazing ways that we as
women bring life into the world. If you'd like to
share your birth story with us, we'd love to hear
from you. Details are in the show notes. Diary of
a Birth was hosted by me Kasenya Lukich with expert
input from doctor Golly. This episode was produced by Georgie
(20:13):
Page and Tom Lyon, with audio production by Scott Stronach.
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