Rebecca Barry is a mum of two. She lives on a property in South Australia, close to the Victorian boarder.
Rebecca’s journey towards her first birth changed trajectory when she received high blood pressure results and was diagnosed with preeclampsia. She had to shift her plan and go into hospital earlier than expected. She underwent additional monitoring and had an extended prenatal hospital stay. She had to change hospitals, moving from her private unit and the care of her private obstetrician to a different hospital. Her known care providers were not able to transfer with her and so early in her third trimester, Rebecca was traversing an unknown care environment and needed to remain in hospital until she birthed. This was tumultuous, as she would receive varied blood pressure results and sometimes be rushed into Delivery Ward Birth Suite/ICU where then her blood pressure would stabilise. This would happen every time she had a high blood pressure reading, as they were thinking they would have to do an emergency delivery.

Her partner was darting back and fourth to be a support to her and present for bubs imminent arrival, whilst still managing life on the land. Her eldest was born prematurely via caesarean section and required some additional support after he was born.
During her second pregnancy, Rebecca developed a strong relationship with a trusted obstetrician who worked with the high risk unit. This gave her increased confidence and she felt well supported as she planned a VBAC. Rebecca’s VBAC didn’t go to plan and after labouring and trying different augmentations, her daughter was born via caesarean. Her daughter also had a stay in the nursery care unit due to infection.
Rebecca demonstrates resilience and strength as she shares what it is like to traverse unexpected pathways and birth far from home. Each stage of motherhood can present challenges and Rebecca shares openly about how she moved through the early birth and nursery stays through support and her own strength.