By Alesha Capone
Truganina couple Pawandeep Kaur and Sukhjinder ‘Sunny’ Singh felt blessed when their daughter was born last year.
Fittingly, their little girl’s name, Asees, means “blessing”.
Before Asees entered the world, Ms Kaur and Mr Singh faced a long and difficult road to parenthood.
Ms Kaur said she experienced five miscarriages, and saw four gynaecologists at different hospitals, before her cousin told her about Frances Perry House in Parkville.
After visiting a gynaecologist at Frances Perry House, her next pregnancy was her first to last longer than 12 weeks, although she miscarried at 16 weeks.
“It was very tough times for us,” Ms Kaur said.
But she said the nursing staff at Frances Perry “were very helpful and they gave me a hope to try again”.
It was at Frances Perry that Ms Kaur met Dr Scott Schemer, who – along with obstetrician Professor Mark Umstad and gynaecologist Associate Professor Alex Ade – runs The Preterm Birth and Pregnancy Loss Group.
The centre, the first of its kind in Melbourne, is aimed at helping women who have experienced a stillbirth or miscarriage, or who are at high risk of having a preterm delivery. The clinic includes counsellors to help women with the grief and trauma of loss.
Ms Kaur said Dr Schemer conducted a lot of tests and advised her that she needed complete bed rest while pregnant.
Ms Kaur was admitted to Frances Perry House in July last year and stayed until December.
“The nursing staff were so lovely, they helped me every day and kept me motivated,” she said.
Ms Kaur stayed in the antenatal ward until Asees was born, and then spent another five days in the post-natal ward.
Asees was in the special nursery for two weeks after she was born.
This year, Frances Perry House is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Frances Perry House first opened in 1970 as the private wing of the Royal Women’s Hospital.
Ms Kaur said she wanted to thank all the staff at Frances Perry and Dr Shemmer for their help.
“It took us nine years to become parents and Dr Scott never gave up on me,” she said.
