Bronwyn's Story

Bronwyn Bunn was so excited to be pregnant - but not that her baby was due on Christmas Day! She hoped the baby would come a few weeks early to separate its birthday from Christmas.

Born 8 October 2015 at 28 weeks and 6 days was much earlier than Bronwyn had hoped and baby Lucas spent 40 days in Mater Mother’s Hospital’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU).

Bronwyn went to the doctor in Toowoomba when she was 27 weeks pregnant, as she couldn’t feel the baby moving too much.

“I was rushed by ambulance to the Mater Mothers in Brisbane immediately. It was discovered my cervix was shortening and I was at risk of going into labour at any time,” Bronwyn said.

“I was given steroids and magnesium sulphate to give my baby the best chance of staying in that bit longer.

Little Lucas held on for an extra week before being delivered and rushed to NCCU.

“Lucas was breathing at birth but needed help and had to be ventilated,” she said.

“The first few days were very emotional,” Bronwyn said.

“Not being able to hold him was hard, he was so small. We had to wait five days before I could hold him.

“You think when your baby is born, that mum and dad are the sole carers but not for us, there were so many people in the room all the time,” she said.

“Having to leave my baby each day was so hard but I knew that he was in the best hands with all the staff,” Bronwyn said.

“Mater Little Miracles means the world to us, if Mater’s NCCU wasn’t here, Lucas wouldn’t be either.

“I’m so grateful to all the staff for their support during this journey, it’s one you can’t believe until you’re on it,” she said.

Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit cares for up to 2000 seriously ill and premature babies every year.

Read the Toowoomba Chronicle story.