When my waters broke at 18 weeks, despite not being in labour, I was told I should terminate my baby.
This is Salley’s story:
I went for a gender scan at 18+2 weeks only to be told my baby couldn’t be seen due to a lack of fluid around him and I was told I should go to the hospital to get checked. The next morning, I woke up and I was bleeding, so I presented to the Women’s Assessment Unit at the local hospital and they did a bunch of tests. The doctor came and told me that my water had broken but that I was not in labour. From there we were given two options – we could either end the pregnancy then and there or we could continue with risk of getting an infection or going into labour very early. We chose to continue.
Preparing for the worst
I was then admitted to a ward for monitoring. When I got to the ward, they just kept telling me my baby won’t survive and that I had no choice but to terminate. Eventually, they talked me into having a termination. Over the next three days we started preparing for the worst thing ever. But then on the Monday, we spoke to a consultant who told us we had a choice not to terminate our healthy baby. Having been given that choice, we agreed and were very relieved.
Ordered on bed rest
I was sent home on strict bed rest, and I was only allowed to attend appointments. That went on for about five weeks until I was transferred to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide. Almost 10 days after being admitted I started to get an infection and my baby only had 1cm of fluid around him. From there I was transferred to the delivery suite and was induced. Almost 12 hours later, on the 26 February, 2021 my son Cayleb was born at 24+3 weeks weighing only 625g and measuring a tiny 30.5cm long.
At home with big brother
lt was the scariest thing I’ve ever had to go through. He spent just over 14 weeks in hospital and was discharged on his brother’s 1st birthday at 39 weeks. He’s now 8 months old and is doing really well!
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