It has been a busy day in the Pawson household. Joelene's oldest son, had just celebrated his fifth birthday with a fun-filled day with family and friends. At 31 weeks pregnant and as an active mother of three, Joelene was feeling understandably weary and a little unwell. But she put her vague symptoms and occasional Braxton Hicks contractions down to enjoying too much party food and possibly a bit of dehydration. But as a trained Occupational therapist and having already had three uncomplicated pregnancies and births, Joelene and her husband Jake soon decided to head to the hospital to check the baby's heartbeat, 'just in case'. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, the young Forbes based couple began to understand that their baby was in more than a small amount of trouble. But it would be some hours later when Doctors would finally confirm what Joelene had already realised. As you'll hear in this extraordinary episode #125 of the Flying Doctor Podcast - despite her premature age and the many hours of road travel required to get them to a major hospital in Sydney - Joelene's baby was on the way. And there wasn't anything that Joelene or her medical team could do, to stop Mother Nature from taking over.
After a series of options and ideas were flagged by Joelene's medical team, including an emergency caesarian and a road ambulance transport, the decision was made to call in an RFDS retrieval plane to transport the labouring Joelene to Sydney. At 31 weeks, baby Indi would need every neo-natal resource and specialist care if she stood any chance of survival. Soon afterwards, Joelene found herself being loaded onto an RFDS flight, with her husband Jake by her side and an amazing RFDS mid-wife monitoring her every move. But despite everyone's best efforts - including Joelene's ongoing attempts to stay calm and not to panic or become too emotional - Mother Nature once again took charge. As Joelene's contractions intensified and the lights of Mascot and Sydney glinted through the aircraft window, a loud 'pop' announced that Joelene's waters had broken. Moments later, mid-wife Kerri announced she could see the head...and baby Indi arrived before the wheels of her RFDS plane could touch the ground. But Indi wasn't breathing and the entire RFDS crew immediately swung into action.
Thanks to the quick actions of her RFDS mid-wife, Joelene's baby starting breathing independently. She was immediately wrapped up, placed on Joelene's chest and then loaded into a waiting ambulance. In the days that followed, baby Indi would face plenty of health challenges as her premature body and organs struggled to adjust to their new surroundings. But with the support and resources of her Sydney RPA neo-natal team and her courageous parents, Indi would soon begin to thrive and grow. One year since her spectacular entry into the world, baby Indi recently joined her parents at an Orange based running event, to helps raise money for the Australian organisation Running for Premature Babies. Indi's mum Joelene hopes that more Australian's become aware of just how critical it is for regional and rural hospitals to have up-to-date neo-natal and specialist birth equipment and the often life-saving difference that equipment - and organisations such as the RDFS - can make to premature baby survival rates and outcomes.
