Prospective mothers living in remote Australia travelling hundreds of kilometres to attend appointments

ABC NEWS (Australia)

For parents-to-be living in remote Australia, the logistics of giving birth can often mean travelling long distances. And while most prospective mothers typically have their partners by their side, many expectant mothers have to attend appointments on their own, something which can make pregnancy more challenging.

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00:00Dickie Absalom and Peter McKay live in one of the most remote spots in Australia, Cameron

00:07Corner, a tiny community where the Queensland, New South Wales and South Australian borders

00:12meet.

00:13You're happier today, aren't you?

00:14They're preparing to have their first child, something they never thought would happen.

00:19I had a low egg count, so yeah, I had a very like less than 10% chance of falling pregnant

00:24naturally.

00:25So the quality of the egg was always going to be fine, but it was like playing the lottery

00:29and you know, trying to win with very, very low chances.

00:32It hasn't been a straightforward pregnancy.

00:34The fetus has cysts on its lungs and will require surgery within a year of birth.

00:40The situation means Ms McKay must travel to Adelaide every two weeks for appointments,

00:45a 1000 kilometre journey she has to make alone.

00:48I drive all of Tuesday, 14 hours, have my appointment Wednesday morning, and then I

00:53go home Wednesday afternoon to Broken Hill and stay there and then come back to the station

00:57Thursday.

00:59Women who live on stations often have to attend their antenatal appointments without their

01:03partners.

01:04The extremely long trips often prevent station workers, managers and owners from making the

01:09round trip, leaving the mothers to face it solo.

01:12What do you reckon?

01:14460 kilometres away in Broken Hill, Claudia Simmons is waking up her six month old baby,

01:20Jet.

01:21Can you smile?

01:22She decided to go to a private obstetrician in Adelaide, driving five hours away for check-ups.

01:27When you live remotely to a degree, you are quite resilient and you get used to travelling

01:31a lot.

01:32So it didn't faze me too much, but it would have been nice to have Mick close, but he

01:36obviously had to stay and work.

01:38For Peter, it's all worth it though, as she gets ready for one last solo drive to Adelaide.

01:43Even now, a few weeks out of having the baby, I still find it really hard to comprehend

01:48that it's finally our turn, because I had so in my mind that it was never going to be

01:52our turn.

01:53She'll have precious cargo next time she comes home.

01:57For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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