Podcast · Kids & Family

Pregnancy Uncut

by Dr Alex Umbers and Dr Kara Thompson · English · Kids & Family

Pregnancy Uncut is dedicated to exploring the often hidden, untold and traumatic stories of pregnancies and births that have not gone to plan. Hosted by doctors working in Women's Health, Alex Umbers and Kara Thompson, Pregnancy Uncut provides a soft place for hard conversations on topics society ha

New episodes: Monthly
Typical length: 51 min
Latest: 28 Aug 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

28 Aug 2026 · 58 min

S7. Ep3. Sophie's story. When a concealed placental abruption changes everything.

When Heidi was pregnant with her second child she and her partner made the decision to return to Australia to be close to family. Having managed an intercontinental flight at 34 weeks pregnant with a toddler in tow, she hoped things would be smooth from then on. Arriving in Australia, Heidi quickly signed up with an obstetrician and, with her due date in sight, they discussed a date for induction - a decision to make based mostly, to Heidi's understanding, on their preference as the pregnancy...

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

16 Jun 2026 · 52 min
S7. Ep2. An unknown ending. A story of recurrent miscarriage, IVF and continuing secondary infertility.
After the birth of her son Angus, Rebecca and her partner were keen to have a sibling for him and at the time had no reason to imagine that this would be anything but straightforward. However, what followed was a journey of recurrent miscarriage, including a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, emergency surgery and multiple IVF attempts. That journey is ongoing and Rebecca feels that there is impact in sharing her story without knowing the outcome, as many people are in that exact situation themselve...
12 May 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
S7. Ep1. An Impossible 'choice' - When the ultimate act of love is doing the unthinkable
When Alice went for her 20 week morphology scan she had no reason to be nervous. Her pregnancy had been straightforward and included doing all standard testing offered, but a noted anomaly of a small baby was quickly followed by referral to fetal medicine specialists, the discovery of soft markers on ultrasound and, after an amniocentesis, the words that would tip their world on its axis. Alice talks with Kara about the heartbreaking moment that baby Marley was diagnosed and the impossi...
9 Oct 2025 · 51 min
S6. Bonus Episode. Caroline De Costa - A Lifetime of Leadership
Few people can genuinely claim to have changed the course of healthcare but Caroline de Costa could do just that. Not that she would, for her - pioneering change and fighting for women's rights in healthcare is just part of the all-encompassing job of an obstetrician. With a career spanning decades, Caroline has been on the frontline of ensuring women have active choice over their reproductive health, from fighting for abortion rights in Ireland early in her career, to pioneering access to me...
S6 · E10 · 16 Oct 2024 · 1 hr 9 min
S6. Ep10. Disrupting the status quo - When your birth plan provokes public debate
In our final episode for season 6, Kara talks to Dr. Imogen Hines about Induction of labour, specifically planned induction and the surprising reaction it can prompt. As an orthopedic doctor, Imogen was no stranger to research and so when she found out she was pregnant she didn't hesitate to put that to the test researching the birth that was going to be best for her and her baby. Based on her findings and on her personal situation she decided to book for a planned induction at 39 weeks. As...
27 Sep 2024 · 1 hr 12 min
S6. Ep9. Informed consent. The cornerstone of maternity and obstetric care.
In this episode we are thrilled to welcome back to the podcast, Amy Dawes - co-founder and CEO of the Australasian Birth Trauma Association to talk with Kara about informed consent. This was the theme of this year's birth trauma awareness week and Kara and Amy do a deep dive on just why it is so important. When Amy was last on the podcast she spoke openly about her personal journey of birth trauma and living with levator avulsion. Now, some years on we welcome her candor as she talks about h...
S6 · E8 · 5 Sep 2024 · 44 min
S6. Ep8. Outside of my own body. When birth triggers long-buried trauma
Hayley is a qualified trauma counsellor and mum of two. With her education and expertise she felt well equipped to manage her own trauma from sexual assault, particularly when her first birth was straightforward. Going into her second Hayley felt prepared and excited. However, in the midst of her labour and birth she found herself disassociating and unable to reach anyone who would be able to help her. Bravely sharing her raw yet insightful story, Hayley teaches us how past trauma can impact ...
S6 · E7 · 23 Aug 2024 · 46 min
S6. Ep7. The memory of a sound - how vividly our birth experiences stay with us
Family is everything to Renee. At 95, she is a living legend, and our oldest guest on Pregnancy Uncut. Renee' s memory is impressively sharp and despite her age, her experiences of her five births remain vivid and profound. Renee now has three grown up children, but she also has two children no longer earthside: she is a survivor of her time, to say the least. Renee is one of ten (10!!) and grew up in a time where resilience reigned and preventable deaths were part of life. She's live...
S6 · E6 · 18 Jul 2024 · 1 hr
S6. Ep6. 'Love from Dad': A bereaved father's journey through birth trauma, grief and advocacy
When his partner Maddy went into labour with their second child, Matt was excited to meet the new addition to their family, but a cord prolapse leading to emergency surgery, saw him instead, alone in a waiting room looking at the seemingly motionless hands of a clock. When Baby Wren was born, she required intensive breathing support, and soon afterwards Matt and Maddy had to make the impossible decision to palliate or transfer her to Melbourne to see if specialist help could save her. Wren sp...
S6 · E5 · 2 Jul 2024 · 46 min
S6. Ep5. When a nagging feeling becomes a confirmed diagnosis - Breast Cancer in Pregnancy.
After a complex fertility journey and a birth and post-partum overshadowed by Covid, Isla was hopeful that she was through the complexity and her journey to her next baby would be more straightforward. At first, this seemed to be the case - as Isla naturally fell pregnant with second baby Freddie. Everything seemed to be going well when Isla discovered a lump on her breast. Thinking it was likely nothing, possibly mastitis or something connected to the changes of her body in pregnancy, Isla ...
S6 · E4 · 13 Jun 2024 · 1 hr 10 min
S6. Ep4: Into the unknown: Navigating a congenital CMV diagnosis.
When Candice took her baby boy Emmett home from hospital he had twice failed the standard hearing tests. However, no one seemed too concerned, her pregnancy had been uncomplicated and everything seemed well. However an outpatient audiology consult that should have taken a couple of hours, lasted nearly a full day and maternal instinct started tingling. At the end of that day she was told that Emmett had permanent hearing loss on one side and they were referred for further testing ...
S6 · E3 · 24 May 2024 · 56 min
S6. Ep3. Birth of a Feminist – An interview with RANZCOG Vice President Dr. Nisha Khot
In this episode we side-step from our usual content to hear the considered insights of Dr. Nisha Khot. Nisha grew up, studied and practiced to become a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in India - where 'a feminist was born'. After further training and working in the UK she landed on Australian shores, practising and training the next generation of O&G specialists, many (including our co-host Kara) are all the better for it. Working as a consultant, Nisha realised that the i...
S6 · E2 · 12 May 2024 · 1 hr 9 min
S6. Ep2. When a picture hides the true story – An inspiring journey of IVF, miscarriage and hope.
Pip had always seen herself having a family and as a driven and organised obstetrician she had clear expectations about how, and when, that might happen. But rarely do fertility journeys unfold as we expect. After an initial miscarriage that instantly her interactions and understanding of the women in her care, she found herself on an IVF journey that would bring heartbreak, complications, twists and turns that she could never have predicted. Now a mum of four, the family picture...
S6 · E1 · 1 Apr 2024 · 51 min
S6. Ep1. Uterine Transplant. The medicine behind a miraculous second chance.
Following the birth of her first child, Violet, Kirsty experienced a large post partum haemorrhage, which required a hysterectomy to save her life. This would seem to spell an end to her fertility journey and Kirsty, who had always imagined more children, began conversations around surrogacy. However, she couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that she desperately wanted to carry another child herself. Still deep in postpartum, Kirsty began a journey of discovery about uterine t...
S5 · E5 · 9 May 2023 · 42 min
S5. Ep5. Inconceivable. Solo motherhood and donor conception
Alexandra had always imagined being a mum, but the onset of baby hunger in her late 30s, while a long term relationship with a man who didn’t share her dream, led to a change in direction. After moving back in with her parents, a series of bad dates, time began to outrun her reproductive age, so Alexandra made the pragmatic decision to go it alone using donor sperm. What followed was a journey of discovery; leading her family through their unease and grief of an expected path, encount...
S5 · E4 · 28 Mar 2023 · 51 min
S5. Ep4. Yelling into a void. Why are we still not talking about severe perineal trauma?
Nine years on from a traumatic birth that led to a fourth degree tear, Verity still finds herself wondering if there is more she could have done; asked a different person, articulated herself differently, said the magic words that would have got her the help she so desperately needed. The reality however, is that she pushed and pushed and pushed. Went down every avenue, was articulate in her concerns, her needs and her emotional vulnerability. Had it not been for her mother and a GP who fina...
28 Feb 2023 · 49 min
S5. Ep3. Far from home. A farming mum's journey with fetal heart block and long distance care.
Married to a busy farmer and working as a midwife at their nearest hospital, Marnie’s dream was always to have her family born and bred close to home. She was just 19 weeks pregnant with her second baby, when her rural GP obstetrician found that baby's heartbeat was around half what it should have been, and diagnosed fetal heart block - a rare condition that would shape the pregnancy, birth, and first months of baby Amelia's life. What followed was the opposite of what Marnie had envi...
S5 · E2 · 5 Feb 2023 · 39 min
S5. Ep2. Reborn from Tragedy. How stillbirth both breaks and shapes a mother.
Heidi is mother to three children but her firstborn, Harry, was stillborn at 38 weeks after a seemingly straightforward pregnancy. The delivery of that news, that no expectant parent should ever hear, was done in a way that lacked the care and compassion it warranted and that memory continues to loom large. Returning home, Heidi and her family were lucky to be surrounded by love and support but there were still moments where she felt isolated and alone. That unique and difficult insigh...
S5 · E1 · 16 Jan 2023 · 47 min
S5. Ep1. 'Childless: A story of freedom and longing'. In conversation with Sian Prior
An accomplished writer, musician, journalist, broadcaster and climate activist, Sian Prior has led a fulfilling life. However, she has always felt a chasm where her child should have been and it is only recently that she has given herself the space and compassion to acknowledge the grief that has been with her throughout much of her adult life as a result The grief connected to Sian's journey of infertility and recurrent miscarriage carries its own weight, but has been further exacerba...
S4 · E11 · 30 Nov 2022 · 59 min
S4. Ep 11. Spina Bifida: One family’s heartbreaks, and new hope with intrauterine surgery.
Claudine had been having a normal second pregnancy but when her 20 week scan showed abnormalities and she received the heartbreaking news that her baby, Sophie had severe Spina Bifida, her and her husband had two weeks to make the hardest decision of any parent. Soon after, Claudine fell pregnant for a third time and took every recommended precaution but again, this time at 18 weeks, she received the same devastating news of Spina Bifida with baby Willow already showing signs of multiple com...
S4 · E9 · 5 Nov 2022 · 54 min
S4. Ep 10. Birth on the spectrum. One women's experience of Autism, ADHD, and pregnancy.
Following years of masking and unanswered questions, Annie was finally diagnosed Autistic and ADHD when she was in her late 20s, a delayed trajectory that is not uncommon in women on the spectrum. Annie has also faced several challenges including a history of sexual assault, PTSD, Ehlers Danlos syndrome, and complex mental health (including an eating disorder) . In this episode of Pregnancy Uncut, Annie shares her experience of navigating pregnancy and birth as a neurodivergent wo...
6 Sep 2022 · 54 min
S4. Ep 9. Transitioning to fatherhood. One man’s journey of pregnancy and birth.
Kim and July met at an all-girls school. But when deciding to embark on a relationship, Kim had one important consideration; he identified as male, and wished to take the necessary steps for him to affirm his gender identity as a transgender man. Several years later, Kim’s wife July faced a heart-breaking IVF journey and was unable to conceive. Faced with the possibility of never having the family they longed for, Kim made the difficult decision to pause his hormone therapy, and carry t...
27 Aug 2022 · 50 min
S4. Ep 8. Health At Every Size. How weight bias in fertility treatment can harm.
Portia has, in her own words, always lived in a larger body. Even when she adopted excessive and almost disordered eating and exercise habits, her body mass index (BMI) remained in the ‘‘overweight’ category. As a doctor working in general practice, Portia understood the significant shortfalls of the BMI as a measurement, and the poor correlation of weight as an independent marker of overall health. Portia is one of a growing group of medical professions in Australia practising HAES-aligned c...
S4 · E7 · 10 Aug 2022 · 59 min
S4 Ep 7. Finding yourself on the other side of the probe. A sonographer’s unexpected journey.
As a ultrasound sonographer herself, Naomi was used to diagnosing every kind of pregnancy complication. But nothing could prepare her for the moment when, at 23 weeks of pregnancy, after noticing a slowing in her baby's movements, Naomi placed the probe on her own baby one morning at work. Straight away, Naomi identified that her baby was, in her own words, the sickest baby she had ever scanned. In this episode, Naomi shares her story of baby Emersyn who was diagnosed with severe fetal anaemi...
S4 · E6 · 7 Aug 2022 · 53 min
S4 Ep 6. Midwifery, motherhood and pregnancy related trauma.
Helen is a midwife, academic, lecturer and mum. When a scan at 21 weeks in her first pregnancy showed that her baby girl was on the 3rd centile for weight with high pressure flow in some crucial blood vessels, Helen knew exactly what that meant. Letting go of her hopes for an uncomplicated pregnancy, Helen kept working and looking after other people’s healthy babies, a box of tissues in her car for the inevitable tears that came each day. At 24 weeks she was advised her baby girl may survive,...
S4 · E5 · 21 Jul 2022 · 32 min
S4 Ep5. Stuck: A story of invasive placenta accreta and caesarean-hysterectomy
Leonie’s son Max was growing small and was in a breech presentation throughout her entire first pregnancy. When his heart rate dropped during monitoring at the 35 week mark, Leonie was whisked into an emergency caesarean birth. Leonie hoped for a vaginal birth after caesarean for her second son, but it wasn’t to be. After two caesarean births and an operation to treat a uterine septum and secondary infertility, Leonie was thrilled to be pregnant with her third son. But at the 20 week mark, he...
S4 · E4 · 19 Jul 2022 · 48 min
S4. Ep4. From Home to Hospital. A story of birth hypoxia.
Haylee was a young, fit, first time mum, and her pregnancy with her first son Fred was progressing beautifully. Haylee was well educated about her health and pregnancy choices, and elected to birth at home with the support of her partner and a private midwife. When her labour at home began to slow, Haylee transferred her care to the local hospital, a short drive away. Unexpectedly, baby Fred was not found to not be coping well with labour and contractions, and Fred was born via emergency caes...
S4 · E3 · 29 Jun 2022 · 51 min
S4. Ep3. Perfect in our Imperfections. Pregnancy and Parenting with a Chronic Illness.
When radio presenter Jacinta Parsons was in her early twenties, she began to feel unwell. The symptoms were insidious at first, and easy to dismiss. When she was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a severe and chronic inflammatory bowel condition, Jacinta was so unwell that she required multiple hospital stays, invasive procedures, and ultimately, an ileostomy bag. Incredibly it was during this period, when she felt her body was failing her, that Jacinta discovered, with joy, th...
20 May 2022 · 39 min
S4. Ep2. Against all Odds. Surviving and thriving after a rare diagnosis in pregnancy.
When school teacher Laura began experiencing unusual symptoms during her third trimester, it was initially thought they might be related to pregnancy. But at 34 weeks, Laura’s symptoms dramatically worsened. At a visit to the hospital, Laura suddenly stopped breathing, and required intubation. Unexpectedly, brain scans revealed a large tumour, putting huge pressure on her brain as it grew during pregnancy. After watching Laura being wheeled away, her husband Torben was later informed that Lau...
20 May 2022 · 48 min
S4. Ep 1. ‘Just get pregnant, that will fix you’. Chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis and pregnancy.
When Kat was 15 years old, her previously pain-free life changed forever. Crippled with severe pelvic and abdominal pain, Kat was suddenly unable to walk down the corridor, let alone attend school. But when her GP dismissed her debilitating symptoms as a ‘normal part of life’, a cycle of uninterested medical care, inadequate treatment and chronic pain began. It would take another 17 long years before Kat heard the word endometriosis from a doctor, and she was finally able to get a diagnosis f...

About Pregnancy Uncut

Pregnancy Uncut is a English kids & family podcast from Dr Alex Umbers and Dr Kara Thompson. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Dr Alex Umbers and Dr Kara Thompson
Language: English
Category: Kids & Family
New episodes: Monthly
Typical length: 51 min
Latest episode: 28 Aug 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1564024791

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