Mother’s Day picture special: The first moment I laid eyes on my child
A woman who refused to terminate her misdiagnosed unborn daughter is just one of several Queenslanders sharing their first moments with their children. SEE THE PHOTOS
Lifestyle
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Science has made it clear that the first human touch with a mother helps calm and relax a baby after its tumultuous arrival into the world.
But no medical book can put into words the depth of emotion in the soul of a new mother when she finally feels the warm skin of her baby lying on her exhausted body.
In a Sunday Mail Mother’s Day special, Queensland women share amazing images of the moment they first laid eyes on their precious bub.
WANT TO SHARE? SEND US PICS OF YOUR FIRST MOMENTS WITH BABY
MATERNAL INSTINCT THAT SAVED BRIANNA
A single teardrop on her face is the tiniest of signs that Dinah De Regt’s heart is breaking at the moment she held her newborn in her arms for the first time.
The Brisbane mother was told during pregnancy that her little Brianna had a terminal brain condition and was advised to terminate.
“I was devastated, but I am her mum and it is my job to look after her, so there was no way I was terminating. Whatever the future held for her, we would deal with it together. From then I was referred to a palliative care team to plan for her death,” she said.
“There was a chance that Brianna would live only a few hours, so in that moment when she was reached to me, I wanted to hold on to her forever and freeze the moment.”
The mother of six says that every time she looks at the photo she can’t control her emotions and tears flow.
“The doctors were wrong. Brianna had been misdiagnosed with Pontocerebellar hypoplasia. She is perfectly healthy and is the cheekiest, bossiest little girl you could meet. The photo now reminds me of those dark moments and how life can change in a minute. We are very lucky,” Ms De Regt said.
At five days old, after follow-up scans, Brianna was given the all-clear.
Ms De Regt has been pregnant eight times and has lost two babies, one just before her pregnancy with Brianna.
“I went into that pregnancy having lost baby Noah at 20 weeks. I had to deliver him in a ward that had mothers who had just birthed healthy babies. That was tough,” she said.
Even with the dire prognosis she was given for Brianna, the mother vowed to keep positive and did everything possible to have a healthy baby. I put affirmations on the wall of the hospital when in labour that said You are Loved and You are Strong. During pregnancy I meditated, did acupuncture, saw a naturopath and changed my diet to green juices and healthy foods. I tried so hard for her to be born healthy.”
Following Brianna’s miracle turnaround Ms De Regt was pregnant with twins, Sadly, one of those twins died early in the pregnancy.
Ms De Regt is a warrior mum, never having had any pain relief for any birth.
“My pregnancy song with Brianna was Bob Marley’s Every Little Thing’s Going To Be All Right and that is how I try to live.”
PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF
“I did it.” Those were the first words Raeshell Mitchell whispered when she finally held her new baby girl to her chest.
Baby Amity is Ms Mitchell’s fourth child but the baby was facing the wrong way at birth.
“I almost opted to have a C-section but decided to persevere, and I was so glad I did. Amity arrived safe and well,” the Logan woman said.
At the birth Ms Mitchell used the tug-of-war method of encouraging the mother to push effectively.
“It was a new thing for me, but it is a traditional technique. We used a sheet and the midwife held one end and I held the other and we pulled against each other. It helped with contractions,” she said.
Amity has three older siblings aged 13, 10 and five.
“The kids are into their football so Mother’s Day will as usual be spent at sport.”
SHEER RELIEF AND HAPPINESS AFTER TRAUMA
The pure joy captured in this picture makes it a favourite of the photographer.
The arrival of baby Mabel was extra precious as just 12 months previously mum Sarah had given birth to Theodore who was stillborn.
Sarah and partner Adrian with their midwife shared in the excitement of Mabel’s safe arrival via water birth in Brisbane.
“This photo is so special as I had also been with Sarah when her little boy was born. I witnessed the heartbreak. It was sheer relief and happiness when little Mabel arrived safely after such a recent trauma. She is beautiful and healthy and it is a lovely moment,” photographer Sarah Rollason said.
LIKE BEING AT A DAY SPA
Yasmine Eluwa likens the day she gave birth to her son to being at a day spa.
“Everything was so chilled the whole time we were in hospital, it was all planned and organised so I could sit back and smile,” she laughs.
“I had my hair net, my dressing gown on,” she laughs, “it was like a day spa.” Ms Eluwa, 34, an operating theatre nurse, gave birth to her son Enyinnaya on January 9, 2019 via a planned caesar.
A choice she’d made after enduring a four day labour that ended in an emergency caesar during the birth of her first child, Masina, now 11.
With the power of experience, Ms Eluwa wanted to be in control and be present. “There is nothing natural about a natural birth,” jokes Eluwa. “A planned caesarean is really surreal, there is none of that stress, or the pushing and the pain.
“You’re able to be in the moment and not worry about anything else.”
That moment meant taking in the gravity of the life she had brought into the world and she and husband Humphery had made. When she looks back on that photo of Enyinnaya, a name that comes from her husband’s Nigerian heritage, it fills her with pride.
“Being a mum is hoping I will always be able to be there for a child and help them grow,” she says.
“When they are little babies you don’t know what their personalities are going to be like and how they’re going to be.”
‘MY HANDS TOUCHED HIM BEFORE ANYONE ELSE’S’
It was the most powerful Cassie Hockley had ever felt.
Sitting in the bathtub, Hockley, 30, reached into the water to pull out the baby she had just given birth to.
“It was one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever had,” she says, remembering back to the day her second son, Benjamin, was born on December 28, 2021 during a water birth.
“When he was born my hands touched him before anybody else’s, which was nice, and being born into water, he would have had a more comfortable entrance.
“Being a mum is growing a tiny human being and helping them navigate the world so they can be strong, capable adults.”
‘IN AWE THAT WE CREATED HER’
As a nurse working in the Ipswich Hospital emergency department for eight years, Kaylah Schuck had often seen babies born quickly and unexpectedly. And when it came to the birth of her own children, not everything went to plan.
Kaylah and husband Darren had planned for a natural birth when “a very naughty” Harper, now 3, somersaulted during labour to present feet first, necessitating an emergency caesarean.
“I think I was in awe that we did it, that we created her … We were so elated that she was finally here, after what felt like forever,” Ms Schuck said.
JUST AS SPECIAL EVERY TIME
After losing her first child at 20 weeks a young mum said the feeling of delivering a healthy, happy baby will always be just as special.
Jemmah Swayn said baby Ellie is her fourth child but first daughter with partner Nick.
“We started having a family quite young but when I was 19 we lost our first boy when I was 20 weeks pregnant.”
“We found out he didn’t have a heartbeat on a gender scan and then we fell pregnant with our second boy a year and a half later.”
Ms Swayn said the feeling of a holding a baby is “just as special every time.”
“My pregnancy wasn’t too difficult but there was lots of monitoring because I tend to carry little babies,” she said.
“I’m a dental assistant so I never really had too much to do with kids but I’m now the only one in our family to have children.”
PREGNANCY HARD, LABOUR EMPOWERING
A Brisbane midwife said it was a “crazy experience” having her own children and “being on the other end of things.”
Hannah McBride said she is fell pregnant with her second child Wilkie around the time of her son Arlo’s first birthday.
“I didn’t love pregnancy but I could birth babies time and time again – I found labour really empowering but pregnancy is hard.”
Ms McBride said she found a “really awesome” team of midwives who made her feel “really safe”.
“You think about having your own kids for so long and then you’re finally on the other end it’s kind of a surreal moment where you’re like ‘I actually get to keep this one, take it home and raise it’,” she said.
WANT TO SHARE? SEND US PICS OF YOUR FIRST MOMENTS WITH BABY
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