In 2013, Sonia Burra-Robinson went into spontaneous labour with her first baby, Alexander, at just over 29 weeks, despite a pregnancy that had appeared routine and low risk.
After several days in hospital on medications to try to halt preterm labour plus steroids to assist the baby’s rapid lung development, she was briefly sent home, only to return as her contractions intensified. Five hours later Alexander was born , weighing just 1.3 kilograms.
Alexander spent 10 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at King Edward Memorial Hospital, initially on a respirator before moving to CPAP, mainly due to jaundice rather than any severe complications. He then spent about three weeks in the Special Care Nursery, followed by a week at St John of God Mt Lawley to “fatten up” before being discharged home around 35 weeks’ gestation.
Today Alexander is a happy, healthy 12-year-old who has largely escaped the serious lung and digestive issues that can affect babies born very early. Sonia says he remains on the smaller side for his height, is prone to croup and tends to be hit hardest when colds circulate, but otherwise lives a typical, active childhood.
Sonia’s subsequent pregnancies revealed other complications that sharpened her appreciation of specialised maternity care and the need for vigilance in late pregnancy.
Her second child, Xavier, was born at 38 weeks after an induction for cholestasis led to an unplanned caesarean when labour stalled and his heart rate rose. An off the cuff statement to her obstetrician around 36 weeks that she was experiencing some ‘rather annoying itching’ led to a raft of tests and a prompt booking in of the induction.
Her third baby, Clara, was delivered by an urgently planned caesarean at 37 weeks after a diagnosis of preeclampsia and recurrent cholestasis. Despite being even more closely observed through this pregnancy given her history, and having no obvious symptoms of either condition, Sonia says she just felt generally unwell and more exhausted than expected, from about 34 weeks. It was only blood tests at the 36 week mark which eventually picked up on the conditions.
Before her first pregnancy, Sonia says she knew “very little” about preterm birth, having only heard of a friend-of-a-friend who delivered at 28 weeks with a touch and go outcome. The reality of suddenly having a preterm baby in intensive care, far from the calm newborn days she had imagined, was terrifying and very stressful, overturning her expectations of early parenthood.
Her third baby, Clara, was delivered by an urgently planned caesarean at 37 weeks after a diagnosis of preeclampsia and recurrent cholestasis. Despite being even more closely observed through this pregnancy given her history, and having no obvious symptoms of either condition, Sonia says she just felt generally unwell and more exhausted than expected, from about 34 weeks. It was only blood tests at the 36 week mark which eventually picked up on the conditions.
Before her first pregnancy, Sonia says she knew “very little” about preterm birth, having only heard of a friend-of-a-friend who delivered at 28 weeks with a touch and go outcome. The reality of suddenly having a preterm baby in intensive care, far from the calm newborn days she had imagined, was terrifying and very stressful, overturning her expectations of early parenthood.
