Placental abruption: Waihī mum Sarah Elliott on the dramatic birth of her twins after haemorrhage

Sarah Elliott's twin sons Asher (left) and Beau had a dramatic arrival into the world after the Waihī mum began to haemorrhage - just as she was about to leave for the hospital for a planned caesarean.

The grab bag was packed and the car almost ready for Sarah Elliott to go to hospital for the elective caesarean birth of her twin boys.

But the planned arrival of Asher and Beau at 38 weeks gestation on September 13 was about to take an unexpected turn.

“It was 10.25am, we were literally packing the car and minutes away from leaving … when I felt a warm gush, which actually made me think my waters had broken.

“But when I looked down all I saw was red.”

Elliott screamed for her husband Josh to call an ambulance, as her mind raced “wondering whether our precious babies were okay”.

“This was the day we’d been waiting for, we were so excited to be welcoming our twins and suddenly to have this medical emergency just moments before we were on our way came as such a shock.

“It felt like my world was turning upside down … I had no idea what the blood meant or what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t good and we needed help fast.”

Twins Beau, left, and Asher Elliott pictured soon after their birth in September.

Fortunately, help was on the way and the Waihī family’s story would have a happy ending, prompting the mum-of-three to speak about the “most terrifying moment of my life” to thank and support the rescue services who came to her aid.

Road ambulance officers were first to arrive, finding one twin’s placenta had started to rupture, causing the antepartum haemorrhage, Elliott said.

“I’d already lost a significant amount of blood. The call was made pretty quickly to call on the [Auckland] Westpac Rescue Helicopter to get us to hospital as soon as possible.”

The 29-year-old was taken by ambulance to Morgan Park, where she was met by Elliott’s midwife.

“I instantly felt relief seeing her and knew we were in the best of hands.”

She began feeling labour pains, “almost instantly back-to-back”, and was found to be 9cm dilated.

“My midwife quickly found baby B’s heartbeat but baby A was trickier to find due to his positioning. This was terrifying.

“I was watching her face looking for a clue and she looked worried ... [but then] she could feel baby A’s foot - she felt his toes wriggle which was reassuring, but we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Waihī couple Josh Elliott, 30, and Sarah Elliott, 29, with their newborn twin sons Asher (left) and Beau (right), and Levi, 3.

Two more ambulances and a specialist paramedic arrived in case the babies were born, Elliott said.

“There were so many people there to help us. That’s when it hit me how serious things were.”

She kept listening for the sound of a helicopter, with a “wave of relief” washing over when she could.

“I was so relieved to get in that helicopter knowing I was another step closer to saving our babies.”

Loaded feet first - in case of an in-flight birth - Elliott, her midwife, critical care paramedic Stefan Gabor and pre-hospital and retrieval medicine doctor Kathryn Compson took off for Tauranga Hospital.

Although relieved to be making the quickest journey to hospital possible, and with those on board reassuring her “everything was going to be okay”, it wasn’t a flight to be remembered fondly.

“The chopper ride was excruciatingly painful as contractions were constant. I was told to resist the urge to push as it wasn’t ideal to birth a breech baby in a helicopter, and there was a risk of further haemorrhaging.”

Meanwhile, Josh and his mother-in-law were driving to Tauranga Hospital, arriving just after Elliott went into theatre for a category 1 emergency caesarean under general anaesthetic.

“From the moment we went separate ways at Morgan Park they didn’t know what was happening, which made for a terrifying ride over.

“They were so grateful and relieved to be told by the Westpac crew that they’d found two heartbeats, I was in theatre and our babies were being born right about now.”

Asher came first, at 12.38pm and weighing 3 kilograms (6lb 13oz), followed by 3.2kg (7lb 1oz) Beau a minute later.

Both needed medical assistance but their father and grandmother were soon at their side in the special care birth unit.

It’d be hours before Elliott could meet the little lads she’d feared losing before they even came into the world.

“I had another haemorrhage in theatre - I lost an estimated 2.6 litres of blood in total and needed a blood transfusion.

“When I woke in recovery, I didn’t know what news I was going to wake up to. [But] Josh showed me photos of our precious twins on his phone - a surreal moment to ‘meet’ your babies.”

Five hours after the twins’ birth her husband wheeled them into her room, Elliott said.

“To first see and hold our little boys was a moment I’ll never forget.”

Twins mean half the sleep, but twice the joy for parents Josh and Sarah Elliott, who welcomed sons Asher (left) and Beau in September in dramatic circumstances.

Now 4 months old, the twins were “full of smiles” and beginning to show their personalities, she said.

“We’re loving all the babbling and giggling that fills our home - as well as double the nappies and half the sleep, haha.”

She still gets goosebumps when the rescue helicopter flies over.

“I’ll never forget the fear I felt that day, but also the feelings of hope that followed when I heard the chopper land for me and our babies.

“There were three lives at risk on that day, and I will forever be grateful that we all got to come home together.”

What is placental abruption?

Placental abruption is an uncommon but life-threatening complication of pregnancy that occurs when the placenta partly or completely separates from the inner wall of the uterus before delivery, usually in the last trimester.

This can decrease or block the baby’s supply of oxygen and nutrients and cause heavy bleeding in the mother.

It’s often sudden but can occur slowly. Symptoms can include vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain, back pain and uterine tenderness, rigidity or contractions.

Immediate emergency care should be sought.

Source: Mayo Clinic

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Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.