
191 | Mel Dimmitt Emergency Caesarean, Special Needs Child, Cerebral Palsy
About this episode
In this week’s episode, I interview Melanie Dimmitt about her two births and her experience as a special needs mum. Mel talks us through the moment she was in the hospital with her first baby, Arlo, awaiting an induction. She was watching the fetal heart rate monitor when she noticed a dramatic fall in Arlo’s heartbeat. Ten minutes later he was born via emergency cesarean and once awake, Mel was wheeled into NICU to meet her baby boy. Mel and her husband Rohan stayed positive in the months that followed but when Arlo was six-month-old he was given a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy and they started a daily treatment plan with a variety of specialists. Overwhelmed by their new reality, Mel used her journalism skills to reach out to a variety of special needs parents. The result is @the_special_book; an uplifting companion for parents who are navigating their child’s diagnosis in an often overwhelming (and initially terrifying) special needs world.
If you'd like my FREE guide on perineal massage click
If you'd like my FREE 5-minute breathing exercise click
Follow us on Instagram to keep the conversation going.
To learn more about The Birth Class my online childbirth education course head to the shop
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Get every episode summarized
Each time Australian Birth Stories publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Australian Birth Stories

602 | Building Breastfeeding Confidence with IBCLC Dr Amber Hart
Australian Birth Stories

601 | Lucy's Story of an Emergency Caesarean, Twin birth, Redefining Body Image...
Australian Birth Stories

600 | Postpartum - Ruby, breastfeeding, sleep challenges, normal infant biology,...
Australian Birth Stories

599 | Ellie, Navigating Pregnancy and Birth as an Autistic Mother, Hospital Birt...
Australian Birth Stories