Bega hospital's lack of neo-natal specialist services puts pressure on regional parents

When Bec Jessop's waters broke in her Candelo home at only 30 weeks, she knew something was wrong.

Her husband Mick made quick preparations and they headed straight to South East Regional Hospital in Bega.

"We'd just finished watching the footy grand final and Bec had decided to go to bed, but she then came back in the room to say her water had broken," Mick said.

"Luckily we had friends over who said they could watch over our five kids while we were gone and I had a talk to my eldest to take care of our littlest so she wouldn't freak out when she woke up."

Upon their arrival at the Bega Hospital at 12.30am their anxiety levels rose further when they found out there was only one midwife rostered on.

"They told us that they had no-one to jump in the ambulance with Bec to take her to Canberra, so we would have to wait until the morning changeover," he said.

"They were obviously hamstrung with the numbers that they had, they just didn't have the staff, which is insane to have this big hospital and not be able to function at full capacity."

Mick said while they hadn't been prepared to face such a situation, the support they did have from nurses had been amazing, with one midwife, Sophie Miller, being a stand out.

"The next morning we had a beautiful nurse take over and she just helped us feel at ease while they transported us up to Canberra in the ambulance, she was honestly a godsend," he said.

Mick said while Bec had been given medication to help slow down the labour, by the time they made it to Canberra the contractions had begun.

The Jessops' worries were not over yet though as their little boy, Ochre, was born via an emergency C-section and without a heartbeat.

Mick said the time it took the staff to resuscitate him felt like the longest three minutes of anguish they'd ever experienced.

"Things sort of went pear shaped, he wasn't breathing and the doctors handed him straight to the neonatal intensive care nurses," he said.

"I was holding Bec's hand and I kept looking back at her telling her everything was all good, and then I looked to my left out of her view and I started thinking maybe he wasn't going to live. And the next time she asked I had to tell her I didn't know anymore."

Mick said after what "felt like forever", he heard a little squeal and that's when he knew Ochre had drawn his first breath.

"We were just emotionally derailed at that moment and it's been such a whirlwind since then," he said.

Over the course of the next five days the family waded through the chaos brought on by the sudden birth of their child - from the changing conditions of Ochre who needed further support for his lungs, to sorting through arrangements for their young family while they were in Canberra.

During that time they also learnt that Ochre would need to be kept in neo-natal care until the full-term, his due date being December 11.

Bec said the challenge with that was that they'd need to find a place to stay that was within walking distance of the hospital, since she couldn't drive and Mick needed to return home to care for their kids.

"The other hard part is that we are here struggling with all of this, but then I've got my five kids at home that are also so emotional," she said.

The couple said despite the hardships, the highlight had been to see the extent of support they'd received from their local community.

"One of our friends Shay has set up a Gofundme page because financially we can't afford to have Mick and the family here with me the whole time and we've still got payments and commitments to take care of," she said.

"We are just so grateful for how unbelievably supportive the community has been, it's been mind blowing."

So far the crowdfunding campaign has amassed around $14,248, with 138 donations made in just three days.

Organiser of the fundraiser and Candelo resident Shay Paine said she'd launched it after hearing of her friends' hardships, which would continue for the next couple of months, and decided it was "time to give back".

"Anyone who knows this family, knows they would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it, so it's our turn as a community to step up and support them," she said.

Shay said the Jessops had been in the middle of preparations to set themselves up for the arrival of their sixth child, who wasn't due for over two months.

"Bec was thinking she still had two months of work and they still hadn't finished the extra bedroom that they were building," she said.

"It's all good and well for us to make them some meals to help out, but it's going to cost them so much to be up in Canberra from accommodation, medical bills, to the cost of fuel for Mick to be travelling back and forth.

"So I guess we just wanted to help lift that burden off them, so they can spend as much time with the kids as possible."

Shay said the community's generosity and support extended past the fundraiser, with people not only cooking meals for the family, but also putting together care bundles to be sent up to Bec.

"There's a lot happening in the background as well and there's talk that there will be a working bee to help them work on their little one-bedroom home," she said.

When Mick received word from his colleagues at Proscape Garden Construction they would be jumping on board to help finish the build he'd started to extend their modest home, he was "blown away".

"They called and said 'look man, we'll come out and smash this renovation out while you're away'," Mick said.

"We're just so grateful to them and this community and while we know we've put in work for the community over the years, we never expected it to come back around the way it has," he said.

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