Today we sit with Em from Warwick, QLD - wife to Max and mum to two-year-old Levi - to trace a first pregnancy that began with hope and quickly collided with the same refrain we hear from so many rural first-time mums: “I didn’t know.” Em takes us from deciding to try for a baby, through eight months of TTC, to that middle-of-the-night positive test, and into a system where timely information and continuity of care were often missing.

Across this conversation you’ll hear the rural realities: a GP visit that felt like a non-event; waiting until 19 weeks to be “picked up” by midwives; early, matter-of-fact risk talk focused on BMI and a likely transfer to Toowoomba; the fear of birthing far from home; and the emotional toll of repeating trauma histories to a new clinician at every appointment. Em shares how a borderline GDM diagnosis (and real-time Bluetooth monitoring) amplified anxiety, how advice landed differently depending on who offered it, and how the absence of relationship-based care can make a healthy pregnancy feel anything but safe.

You’ll also hear what made a difference. Em found credible education (Great Birth Rebellion, Core & Floor Restore’s free antenatal videos, Dr Sarah Buckley’s work, and Catherine Bell’s Birth Map), a local circle of mums who said “you’re one of us,” and - crucially - a private midwife who offered a soft place to land late in pregnancy. With that support, Em built clear, values-led plans (yes/no flowcharts and all), watched her blood sugars settle, and entered labour at 40+1 with a toolkit that included TENS, gas, horse’s breath, and a fiercely present partner. We follow her fast escalation from home to clinic to birth suite, waters breaking on the table, a gentle in-and-out catheter to quiet her mind, a tiny cervical lip moved aside, and finally an unaugmented vaginal birth crowned by the words every woman deserves to hear: “Look at you. Clever girl.”

This is an episode about how knowledge, safety, and continuity reshape the experience - and why rural models of care must center them. Part 2 continues tomorrow with Em’s postpartum, reflections on what she wishes she’d known earlier, and what she wants every rural parent and clinician to take forward.

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