How GMHBA Saved My Bank Balance  

We were delighted when I fell pregnant. My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for nearly 12 months. It was hard because most of that time he was based in Townsville while I was still at home in Brisbane.

The first three months of my pregnancy were filled with morning sickness and debilitating headaches. When these subsided I was able to enjoy my pregnancy even more.

Life went on and although I was getting more tired and heavy, I was excited about our future and wondering what our baby was going to be like.We were all going to live in Canberra once our baby was delivered.

It was 5am on a Monday; my husband had been home for the weekend and was due to fly back to Canberra later that day. When I got out of bed I noticed significant bleeding and then my heart felt like it had stopped. My only thought was that I was losing the baby. I told my husband he had to take me to the hospital.We were in such a rush that we only rang our obstetrician and didn’t think to call the hospital ahead of our arriving there. I was now 29 weeks pregnant.

The nurses at the hospital were incredibly helpful and efficient.They immediately told me not to stress; that was their job. I was asked “How much blood did you lose?” I could only guess as it was very heavy. A foetal heart monitor was fitted to me however, as our baby was so small it was hard to trace a heartbeat. Finally they found a heartbeat and I was admitted to hospital, diagnosed with Placenta Praevia.

I had read so many pregnancy magazines and discussed my pregnancy with friends and family, however I hadn’t heard of this condition. Once diagnosed, a few women told me of their experiences with it and their successful deliveries.

My obstetrician warned me that if I had three bleeding episodes I was to be admitted to hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy. The risk that any bleed could be so heavy it is potentially life threatening. The condition is due to the placenta implanting itself at the base of the uterus, covering the cervix (partially in my case) and tearing as the uterus expands causing the bleeding where the placenta is attached. Once I understood that, I felt relieved that at least I knew what was happening to me. If the placenta did not move upwards by itself, it would be necessary to have a caesarean.This wasn’t a disappointment for me as a pre-existing condition had already eliminated natural birth as an option.

Two episodes and two hospital admissions later, I was told by my obstetrician that I was staying in hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy. I couldn’t believe it. I had to walk away from my job with little more than a phone call, never to return. Eight weeks until the scheduled caesarean seemed like an eternity ahead of me.We bought a laptop so I could continue doing some work from hospital and stocked up on CDs, DVDs and magazines. My husband and I were so pleased we had our health cover with GMHBA. I had my own hospital room and was able to see my own doctor. The stress of my situation, as well as financial burdens would have been insurmountable.

I had a bleeding episode at least once a week and on each occasion I was fitted with a ‘bung’ in preparation for an emergency caesarean and immediately strapped to the foetal heart monitor. I couldn’t help but feel a little humiliated each time nursing staff had to check my blood loss. Above all else, there was a sense of security being in hospital, knowing that I was surrounded by top-notch medical staff. This was also the case for my husband as he wasn’t able to see me every day.

Life in hospital became a routine, I had the monitor performed every second day and cross-matches of my blood were taken on a regular basis in case I needed a transfusion. The placenta stubbornly remained in the same position. Consequently my obstetrician set the date for my caesarean – 15 September 2004.

I counted down each day as being one day more that our baby had developed inside the womb. Regular ultrasounds showed that although our baby was small, everything was perfect.We didn’t want to know the sex of our baby as we wanted it to be a surprise. The big day had arrived. I was incredibly emotional and cried as they took me to the operating theatre. I couldn’t believe my eyes when they showed us our baby – we were certain we were having a girl, yet there he was!

Our baby Peter had arrived in all his glory. Peter is just over four months old now and is positively thriving.We are thankful for his presence every minute of every day.

(Without her GMHBA Health Cover, Sharon would have been treated in a Public Hospital where she may have had to share a ward and would not have been able to choose her own doctor.)