Lisa’s first babies were born at 25 weeks - beautiful twin boys. Unfortunately, only one twin survived, leaving Lisa and Brett grieving the loss of their baby, coping with the trauma of their hospital experience and how poorly many aspects of their care were managed, and dealing with the daily challenges and precarious nature of life with a premature baby fighting for survival. Here, Lisa tells her story :

AVA meaning: life (Hebrew) and little bird (Latin)
I sit here. My heart is overflowing with love.
I am looking at the most precious gift that I could ever receive…my 8 week old daughter, Ava.
The dishes are on the sink, the washing is in the machine, the beds are unmade…..and yet I am content. Content to be sitting here, as I do everyday, with her in my arms.

She doesn’t rest, sleep or comfort without me….she loves me….I am her life…. and for this brief moment in time, she is mine.

My entry into motherhood for the second time has been the most ecstatic, empowering and overwhelming experience of my life.
Ava’s birth notice says it all;

With much Strength, Courage, Determination and Support, Mother and Babe journeyed the divine path of
Pregnancy and Birth (VBAC)

AVA MILIEE (6.5lbs)

Born our way -
Peacefully and unhindered Into her mother’s arms, With her father and brother Euphorically by her side

1.24pm Tuesday 25th September 2007 at Selangor Nambour Private Hospital

Lisa’s journey with Birthtalk
18 months ago I was a little nutty. After 4 years of discussion, my husband and I decided that we wanted another baby. Our first experience into parenthood was far from text book. I was pregnant with twins, severely ill with morning sickness, hospitalised on a number of occasions and finally, as a result of pre-eclampsia, delivered my boys by emergency caesarean at 25 weeks. Not quite the pregnancy and birth that I had envisaged!

I was determined that the next time round would be totally different…..I would make it the pregnancy and birth that I so desperately wanted. But I didn’t know where to start. And that’s when I found Birthtalk. The internet became my resource tool and I stubbled across the Birthtalk web site. After an initial call to Deb, I was welcomed to my first Healing from Birth session and immediately knew that I had found support.

It felt incredible to finally validate my feelings towards my birth and my introduction to motherhood. Over the months I gained invaluable knowledge from the sessions that I attended. And with that came a new found confidence in my ability to ascertain my needs and wants, and ultimately seek them out. It wasn’t an easy road, and there were times when I felt that my expectations may have been unrealistic. But I learnt to realise that they were only unrealistic for others (i.e. being told by a “holistic” GP that I was a very “abnormal patient” because I wanted to “manage” my own pregnancy….needless to say I didn’t return). Birthtalk allowed me to journey through my healing process on my own terms and provided me with a safe, secure and nurturing environment in which to do so.

After 6 months of “me time” and Deb’s time, I was ready to embrace all that my future pregnancy, birth and entry into motherhood had to offer. Truly understanding how my body was equipped to birth naturally helped me enormously, and gaining the “right” knowledge allowed me to release much of my apprehension and fear that I would haven taken into my next pregnancy and birth. I no longer was afraid of my ability to nurture my unborn child in pregnancy or deliver her/him in birth. I became empowered in my ability to birth! (I am woman…hear me roar!!!)

I only wish that I had been exposed to Birthtalk when pregnant with my first babies!
How incredibly different my journey would have been.

I truly believe that all Australian women and their partners should be exposed to organisations such as Birthtalk, particularly in first pregnancies, so as to dispel many of the fears and myths that surround birth. We as a society aren’t given the opportunity to surround ourselves amongst birth, and in my case, as with many of my friends, our labour and births are often the only ones that we will ever witness. I therefore strongly feel that we as birthing women, should be given the opportunity to gain knowledge that will empower us to birth the way that mother nature intended….on our terms.

©Lisa and Brett and Birthtalk

© Birthtalk 2002-2009