In this episode I chat with Sophie, a wedding planner and first time mum, about how her son Cooper was born by C section at 30+5 after preeclampsia was picked up at a routine 28 week appointment. Her only sign had been swollen ankles.
She had been told PCOS meant she'd probably need IVF, so finding out she was 13 weeks pregnant, only because she'd gone off coffee, was a huge shock. After her blood pressure came back high at 28 weeks, she spent a week and a half being admitted and sent home, with protein levels so high she's still known as the record holder at her hospital. By 30 weeks she was on 36 pills a day.
When a scan showed the blood flow to her baby had slowed right down, her consultant Robbie booked her in for a C section that afternoon. Cooper was born weighing 2lb 7oz and spent five weeks in NICU, where he had a collapsed lung and was moved to a specialist unit. Sophie talks openly about the guilt of pumping 5ml, and the lactation specialist who asked whether pumping was really right for her. Cooper came home at four pounds, weeks before his Christmas Day due date.
We talk about:
• Preeclampsia with no headaches or pain, and swollen ankles as the only sign
• Being admitted and sent home again and again with high blood pressure
• Steroid injections, Doppler scans and magnesium sulphate before a premature C section
• What a NICU stay is really like, from a collapsed lung to learning your baby instead of the monitor
• Pumping guilt, donor milk and choosing to formula feed
The stories shared on British Birthing Stories are real, personal experiences from real women. I am not a medical professional and this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy and birth is different, and I always encourage you to speak to your midwife or doctor about your own individual care.
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