Miracle mum Katrina shares Mumford & Murphy’s birth story:

Mumford & Murphy’s birth and Postpartum Psychosis

Mumford and Murphy were born at 33 weeks. They came after Mumford (Twin B) stopped growing for two weeks... Doctors said that he was truly a miracle, as he held on until our next fortnightly scan. They believed that for two weeks, he was circulating blood to his brain and his heart.

We went into an emergency c-section on the 17 of December 2021, after Mumford’s dopplers dropped. Murphy (Twin A) was born first and we heard the loudest cry! But when Mumford was born the doctors birthed him in his amniotic sac and we heard nothing. We saw him in this water filled bubble and it was so incredible to see what babies look like before their water breaks and they are born.

Due to their prematurity, they were not placed on my chest. This broke my heart. Instead, I laid there paralysed, watching Mumford receive respiratory support. After delayed cord clamping, the twins were quickly shuttled to NICU with my husband. I waited 8 long hours to hold either of my children. Mumford was wearing a CPAP when we met him and Murphy was not. It was the same birth with two different stories..

When I first had skin to skin with Mumford, he was learning how to regulate his breath. When I met Murphy, he latched on for the first time. I spent 12 days in a bubble with them, until my Postpartum Psychosis symptoms became more obvious and I was triaged into the Emergency Department with the NICU Nurse Unit Manager. To this day, I thank him and my husband for noticing that something was not right. Postpartum Psychosis is a very serious but treatable mental health condition. A rare 1 in 1000 women will receive this diagnosis soon after birth.

For 33 days, I was admitted into the mental health ward. Everyday for a week, my husband would see me through the glass doors and collect my expressed breastmilk for our children. I was on bed rest to restore my sleep hygiene and the hospital was on lock down with restricted visitors due to the pandemic. After being separated for a few days, I was able to go back into NICU and breastfeed. Eventually I was discharged from hospital, at the same time as my children. CPAP, feeding tubes, prick tests and all the beeping was behind us.

Now, Mumford & Murphy are 3 years old. They are thriving and you wouldn’t even know that they were in NICU. I recovered from Postpartum Psychosis and now I am a mental health advocate, especially for new parents and parents in the NICU.