In this moving episode, we follow Tina’s powerful VBAC journey — from becoming a young mum at 21 and experiencing a caesarean under general anaesthetic, to reclaiming her birthing power with the vaginal birth of her MCDA twins.

Tina opens up about the heartbreak of missing her son’s first moments, the emotional toll of separation and how that experience shaped her path to becoming a midwife. She takes us through her next pregnancy — the shock of conceiving twins, the challenges of preterm labour and navigating birth during the height of COVID.

Against the odds, Tina chose a VBAC, birthing her twins vaginally at 32 weeks. She shares the raw details and experiences — the mind game of having to push two babies out, the near en caul birth of her second twin, and the moment she met her daughters before they were taken to NICU. Tina’s story doesn’t end there! She also shares her deeply emotional NICU journey, her commitment to breastfeeding through enormous obstacles, and the deep empowerment she now carries as a mother and a midwife, influencing the way she can support other families on their own journeys.

This is a story of which explores advocacy and self-empowerment; a story of resilience, and triumph. We hope you love it as much as we loved sharing it!

BIO:

I am a mother of 3 - 10 year old Caleb and 3 year old twins Alyssa & Brielle. I live in Sydney with my partner Mitch. My first pregnancy was unplanned and I was terrified of birth and completely unaware of my ability to say no to certain things which ultimately led to a failed instrumental birth and cesarean under GA impacting our breastfeeding journey. After developing birth PTSD and doing lots of work to heal I felt a pull to go into midwifery to raise awareness and prevent birth trauma.7 years later I found myself pregnant after a couple of miscarriages and instantly messaged my private midwife friend with a homebirth in mind. Everything changed when I found out I was pregnant with high risk monochorionic-diamniotic twins. After many complications during the pregnancy such as short cervix, cervical cerclage, multiple preterm labour admissions during the height of covid I had the most healing VBAC with the absolute best team. I will always say it was one of the best days of my life!I always say that as a midwife I do not judge the decisions you make about your pregnancy, birth and postpartum period all that I care about is that you were presented with all the options available to you and you are aware that it is your body and your choice always.

Please join us on our journey to bringing you all kinds of VBAC stories from across the country from here on in by subscribing and following us on social media, @australianvbacstories on Instagram and Australian VBAC Stories on Facebook.

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If you are feeling that you might benefit from mental health support after listening to our podcast, please reach out to one of the organisations below:

PANDA ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://panda.org.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Gidget Foundation ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

COPE Australia ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cope.org.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you've experienced mistreatment or disrespectful care in your pregnancy, birth or postpartum and are seeking advocacy support, please contact one of the following organisations:

Maternity Choices Australia ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.maternitychoices.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Maternity Consumer Network ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.maternityconsumernetwork.org.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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