Maria feels blessed to have two beautiful, healthy daughters.
Ten-year-old Chelsea and six-year-old Madeline were both born prematurely at 29-weeks gestation, and had a tough start to life. Collectively the girls spent seven months in the Mater Mothers’ Hospital’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit.
“It’s funny but when you have a baby you expect that everything is going to be perfect. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that Chelsea had arrived so early. There were many low moments in the beginning and quite a lot of fright associated with taking her home,” Maria recalled.
The Mater Mothers’ Hospital is a special place for her family. Maria’s middle daughter Olivia died when she was only six days old. She was born at 26 weeks weighing a tiny 499 grams.
Olivia had been doing well the day that Maria was discharged, but within an hour of her departure Olivia took a massive turn for the worst. Maria knew when she got the phone call that she and her husband Brett had to hurry.
There was such a rapid deterioration in Olivia’s health and Maria was only able to spend a few minutes with her newborn child before she died in her arms.
“Olivia is a common name in our house and her memory is very important to us. For the last six years we’ve been holding a fundraising lunch in her memory.
Since 2003, Olivia’s Lunch has raised more than $250,000 for the Mater to support premature babies who are cared for in the Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit.