Having seven children could be considered a remarkable feat, but Bundaberg resident Theresa Oliver has defied medical logic to deliver all her children via C-section.
Theresa and her partner Warren Taylor welcomed their latest addition to the family when daughter Kaianne was delivered at Bundaberg Hospital last month.
The couple’s sixth daughter brings the total of C-section delivered residents in the household to nine, with Theresa and Warren also delivered via the surgical procedure.
Theresa and Warren are aware that conventional medical wisdom dictates that a woman should not undergo more than three C-section deliveries, but the couple’s love of children, and Theresa’s uncomplicated deliveries, encouraged them to push the boundaries.
Theresa said undergoing C-section surgery had never been a preference but she’d been confident that Kaianne’s delivery would go as smoothly as those of her older siblings.
“I never planned to have C-sections, it wasn’t by choice,” Theresa said. “I have tried to have natural birth three times, but it’s always ended in having caesarean.”
“(The doctors) do give you warnings but, at the end of the day, it’s my decision.”
Kaianne is now being showered in love by her siblings Lillian, 18, Jessie, 17, Chelsie, 16, Abigail, 14, Zoe, 13 and AxL, two, the lone boy in the family.
Kaianne joins AxL in being born at Bundaberg Base Hospital where, Warren said, each of the respective obstetricians overseeing their deliveries remarked that they had not previously delivered a sixth or seventh C-section child.
“Health wise, everything’s been good for Theresa,” Warren said. “The previous delivery (AxL) the doctor came from Sydney and said everything inside was pretty much perfect.
“He said we could have another six,” he added with a laugh, drawing the same response from Theresa.
But don’t let the laughter make you think Theresa and Warren have drawn a line at seven children – Warren said it was possible there would be more to follow.
“If it happens, then it’s meant to be,” he said. “We’re not planning but there could be an eighth.”
While adamant that she would not be out to threaten the apparent world record of 13 children delivered via caesarean, Theresa said she was delighted to have created a large family with Warren.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said. “We love kids and wouldn’t trade them for the world.
“(As a child) there was only me and my brother and there’s nine years difference between us, so I never had many people to play with other than school friends.”
Kaianne and AxL will be closer to each other in age than the rest of their siblings who were all born in Newcastle but, for now, Warren said he and Theresa were enjoying having all their children under the one roof.
“We look forward to the holidays and spending time with the kids,” he said. “We both work so we’re always juggling work and the kids.
“School holidays are when we actually get to spend time with the kids.”
Having lived in Bundaberg for four years after moving here from Newcastle, Warren, a truck driver, and Theresa, who works in aged care and disability, enjoy their work, and do not plan on going anywhere else.
Warren said he had contacted Bundaberg Now with his family’s story in admiration of his wife’s effort to deliver seven children via C-section and Bundaberg Hospital’s safe delivery of their latest two additions to the family.
“That’s why I wanted to share it around Bundaberg – what Theresa and the hospital have accomplished,” a proud Warren said.
“To have seven (C-sections) and still have everything going well, it’s remarkable.”
