#BornTooSoon Story – Estelle Taufer

Seven weeks into her pregnancy with her fourth child, Australian mum Rachel Taufer suddenly started bleeding heavily. In tears, she called an ambulance, then curled herself into a fetal position on her living room floor, crying and praying as her three children, aged 5, 3 and 1, looked down at her.

In hospital, she learned that a subchorionic haematoma (blood clot) had formed between the placenta and the wall of the uterus. Despite taking bed rest her condition worsened, resulting in placenta previa and placenta acreta, and she was hospitalized at 21 weeks’ gestation due to major bleeding. 

Her hospital stay was traumatic, not only because she feared for both her own and her baby’s lives, but also because of her experience of care there. "I knew which nurses would clean me up when I had a big bleed, and which nurses would throw a blanket over me and feel it was totally gross."

Sister Amelia meeting Estelle

Rachel’s children visited her once a day. Her eldest started kindergarten while she was on bedrest in hospital. She says, "I went from being independent and active and very much involved in my children's lives to being a spectator on the sidelines, not even able to hold or lift them." Doubting that she would survive, Rachel and her husband Nathan made jewellery for her other children using her fingerprints.

Rachel felt stigmatized by some medical staff due to her history of anxiety; she believes this made them less willing to listen to her.

"One of the hardest things was not feeling heard, and the lack of communication, especially because it was about something happening to my body, and medical professionals distrust a woman’s knowledge about her own body. Two days before Estelle was born, I knew that something was not right, I was in absolute agony, and I said so, but nobody took me seriously until it got to a dire state and I became septic. They were all talking about me, but no one was talking to me."

At 26 weeks’ gestation, Rachel went into preterm labour, suffering from sepsis. She was rushed into surgery where she gave birth to Estelle, who was in a critical condition and was taken to the NICU. Rachel’s uterus, fallopian tubes and part of her bladder were removed. Rachel remained in hospital for a month after waking from an induced coma, and then stayed by her baby’s side in NICU for three months.

Estelle at 7 years old

Estelle, now seven years old, was discharged at 38 weeks' gestation. Despite a couple of hospital visits and stays, she is now happy, healthy and "a ray of sunshine, so resilient and always looking on the bright side." However, Rachel still suffers from PTSD relating to the experience of Estelle’s birth. "The fear of losing a child never dissipates."

One change that Rachel would like to see in the next decade is better communication between medical staff and families. "Things like letting parents know next steps, keeping us informed, allowing us to make smaller decisions that can mean a lot, such as choosing a first outfit. And mental health care being offered for mom, dad and siblings."