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Carrie Bickmore stunned at woman's 'horrendous' birth story
A mum-of-one has shared her "horrendous" birth story on The Project, leaving host Carrie Bickmore visibly shocked during the emotional interview.
Stellar fashion director Kelly Hume shared her story on Monday night's episode of the show, sharing how her birth injury was misdiagnosed for four years, leaving her in terrible pain.
Carrie has previously spoken about needing counselling following the traumatic birth of her son Ollie, where the presenter almost died due to a life-threatening haemorrhage.
While Kelly's pregnancy was "really easy", and she was told her birth would be straightforward, it was anything but.
"At no stage did any of my care providers say well you’re going to have a really big baby," she said. "But once her head was out, she got stuck. I was in a rural hospital, there was no doctor on site. It was too late to do an episiotomy, so the only option the midwife had was to pull her out. So, between the midwives and my husband, they had to pull her out."
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At this, Carrie was clearly shocked, saying, "Oh my God!"
Following the birth, Kelly was told she had a third degree tear, where the skin between the vagina and anus is torn. This was repaired by a gynaecologist, however, the fashion director was left feeling sick and "absolutely exhausted".
"They tested me for leukaemia, then they tested me for auto-immune disease and none of them really fit," she explained.
Last year, while taking part in a Tough Mudder style event in April, Kelly "felt something go wrong down there", according to Carrie.
Her GP suggested she "probably" had a Bartholin cyst, which sees fluid accumulate when the opening of the Bartholin's gland becomes obstructed due to infection or injury.
Kelly pressed for a gynaecologist referral, and was given scary news.
"[The gynaecologist] examined me and she said you don’t have a Bartholin cyst, you never had a Bartholin cyst," Kelly said.
"You have a five by seven-centimetre abscess between your vagina and your rectum that is caused by a fourth-degree tear, not a 3C tear, that was incorrectly repaired when you gave birth."
This tear saw faecal matter going "where it shouldn't" and had "grown and grown" to cause the infection that lasted four years since birth.
A fourth-degree tear is the most severe kind of tear and extends beyond the anal sphincter into the mucous membrane that lines the rectum.
If this had been correctly diagnosed when Kelly gave birth, she would have needed some specialised care including an operation with anaesthesia.
However, because the injury had been untreated for so long, she needed surgery ever six weeks for seven months with the experience being traumatic both physically and mentally.
"I thought what is wrong with me?" she said. "You start questioning absolutely every facet in your life because you feel so miserable. But I’m so glad that I stuck through it all."
"Now, my focus is on helping other women. If you feel like something isn't right down there, it probably isn't!" she added.
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