Twins surprise Redland mum with home birth 14 weeks early

A Redlands mum who gave birth to twins 14 weeks early in her bedroom ensuite has thanked the medical and midwifery teams at Mater Mothers’ Hospital in South Brisbane for saving their lives.

Lauren Hoareau said she remained calm despite the “surprise” arrival of her twins Amy and George, who were rushed from her Mount Cotton home by paramedics to their local hospital for intubation and stabilising before being transported to Mater Mothers’ Hospital for life-saving around-the-clock neonatal care.

Mrs Hoareau, 39, said she had just taken a shower at home when “something didn’t feel right”.

She realised her twins were on their way, and very quickly and unexpectedly caught Amy in her arms.

Mrs Hoareau called her husband Fabian, 36, to return home from a ride with their five-year-old, Gemma, and made a desperate phone call to Queensland Ambulance Service.

“The paramedics arrived within moments, having already been dispatched to the area for an unrelated matter,” Mrs Hoareau said.

“My first instinct was to keep Amy warm and check if she was breathing, which luckily she was.

“When the paramedics arrived, George decided to come quite soon after Amy and ended up being born feet first.

“George needed a bit of help breathing and the paramedics worked on him on our bed.”

Despite their early arrival on 2 January 2022, Amy and George were born without complications and were cared for by a specialist multidisciplinary clinical team for 10 weeks in the Mater Neonatal Critical Care Unit.

When the twins were big enough, they were transferred to their local hospital’s Special Care Nursery for five weeks before going home, Mrs Hoareau said.

Mrs Hoareau said it was four days before she held George, who weighed 1.06kg, and Amy just 930 grams.

“Seven paramedics, four ambulance vehicles, and two very small babies later – it was quite a journey,” she recalled.

“Seeing the twins for the first time was so surreal, their skin was shiny, and they were so tiny and delicate.”

Mrs Hoareau said her almost two-year-old twins were now “thriving”.

“They are walking and running around, you wouldn’t know they were born so early – they came home from hospital without any issues,” she said.

“We were so impressed by the care we received from all the staff at Mater. From the equipment used to save the lives of the twins, to their daily progress updates, even via regular text messages when we couldn’t be there with them, it was really uplifting.”

Each year more than 2,000 very sick and premature babies receive round-the-clock specialist care from the team in Mater Mothers’ Neonatal Critical Care Unit.

Mater Mothers’ Hospital Acting Director of Neonatology Dr Deborah Gilmour said one in 10 babies were born premature worldwide.

“In 2022, Mater Mother’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit staff cared for 85 babies who were born 12 or more weeks early,” Dr Gilmour said.

“At 26 weeks gestation, nine out of 10 babies are likely to survive and go home.”