I was stung in my groin at 37 weeks; my belly blocked me from seeing by what

"When I got a stranger to check between my legs, it turned out way worse than I could imagine."

Melissa Noble

2 min read

April 30, 2024 - 1:52PM

Pregnancy

Don't miss out on the headlines from Pregnancy. Followed categories will be added to My News.

It was a hot summer’s day and Kate Shillabeer, 36, of Porepunkah in Victoria, had decided to take her dog for a swim in a local river.

Kate was standing in the water chatting to a family who had just moved to the area when she felt something strange "down below." Her groin had started mysteriously stinging, and a lump had developed.

At the time, Kate was 37 weeks and four days pregnant.

“Initially I ignored it, but then I put my hand on my groin and I felt something,” says tells Kidspot.

“This was my first pregnancy and I didn’t know if it was the umbilical cord, a vein or what it was - it felt horrible.

“I was mindful not to overreact or panic, but I did wonder what was going on.”

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this.

"I'm really scared"

Kate held on to the lump and got out of the water.

“I thought that if it was something to do with baby, I should hold on to it,” she says.

In desperation, she walked over to the woman she had been chatting to and asked whether she could help.

“I said, 'this is my first pregnancy, I’m really scared, can you please look at my groin because something doesn’t feel right'. I couldn’t see over the bump, so I couldn’t see what it was.

“The woman did the sideways glance and said it was a leech.”

Image: supplied

Kate had encountered the bloodsucking parasites before, but never in her local river... or groin.

The creature was about 4 mm in diameter by 4 cm in length.

“I did the Overland Track in Tasmania in 2015 and I did get leeches on my ankles, so I’m aware of leeches but I’ve never seen them in the river here,” she says.

Introducing our new podcast: Mum Club! Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

"It could have been worse!"

Luckily, as the woman informed Kate that the lump was in fact a leech, she let go and it dropped off.

“I did hold back tears because I was a bit overwhelmed, but I was kind of laughing too,” says Kate.

“I asked the woman if I was bleeding because I didn’t want to walk home with blood gushing everywhere, and she said there was a red dot.

“All I could think was imagine where it could have ended up if I was skinny dipping.”

When Kate mentioned the incident to her partner, he said, “OMG, that would only happen to you”. Once, on a trip to Mexico in 2014, Kate slipped on some rocks and landed on her face, damaging her two front teeth.

Three days after the dreaded leech encounter, Kate ended up going into labour and her son Lachlan (Lachie) was born via emergency C-section, weighing 2.965kg.

“I felt really proud when he arrived,” says Kate.

The mum adds that she’s so grateful to the woman who helped her.

“Thankfully, the lady was older than me and she’d had kids, so she understood where I was coming from,” says Kate.

“She was there for me in my time of need and she was very kind about it.”