2 minute read • Prize Home Lottery, Patient Stories, Mater Lotteries, Mater Prize Home, Featured
Billie and Poppy's Story
Your support helps give our tiniest patients the best possible start to life…
Marni and Lee revel in the chaos of parenthood, happy to have their twin girls home after a tumultuous pregnancy journey.
After many years trying for a family, Marni was 22 weeks pregnant with identical twin girls when they were diagnosed with a rare and potentially life-threatening medical condition.
Marni’s twin girls were diagnosed with Twin Anaemia Polycythaemia Sequence—a condition where blood flows unequally between twins who share a placenta and results in one fetus having a low blood count and the other fetus having a high blood count.
"There was a very real possibility that the girls weren’t going to make the pregnancy. But we had to put our trust in the doctors. We knew we were in the best hands," Marni said.
Marni was referred to the Mater Centre for Maternal Fetal Medicine at Mater Mothers’ Hospital where Dr Glenn Gardener cared for the unborn twin girls, performing two lifesaving, in utero blood transfusions.
Marni said she felt “scared” knowing the risks involved, but she was determined to give her daughters the best chance at life.
At 34 weeks’ gestation Marni’s precious girls, Billie and Poppy, arrived six weeks early and spent 10 days in the Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU).
"Now, the girls are robust and healthy. I'm super proud of them and I love them to bits," said Marni.
Every time you buy a Mater Prize Home ticket, you become part of a special team, helping our tiniest patients have the best possible start to life.
Thank you for supporting vital medical research, equipment and care at Mater—you truly are changing the lives of patients and their families—just like Billie and Poppy.
