Teenage Pregnancy, NICU Babies and Covid Birth - Interviewing Leona Bugden

In this episode, Zoe speaks with mother of four daughters, Leona Bugden. Leona talks about her experience of being a teenage mum and now parenting her eldest daughter who is a teenager herself. Leona also has three younger children with her husband Ross. She talks about her experiences with the NICU as well as pregnancy and birth during covid.     KEY TAKEAWAYS     Leona found out she was pregnant with her first child at just 18. It was a huge shock, it took her a while to take a test as she kept having periods and was on the pill. At first Leona didn’t even consider that she would be a mum but she then made the decision to carry on with the pregnancy, her mum was so supportive and helped her in every way from the very beginning. Some of Leona’s teachers were supportive but the head of her school was absolutely awful to her, luckily her mum stood up for her and took no nonsense at all. Leona finished her a-levels and had her little girl Elyssa in the September that year. When Elyssa was 1 Leona went to university, her mum provided so much help in order for her to do this. But even so it was so difficult splitting herself in so many directions, she often felt like she wasn’t managing any aspect. Parenting a teenager can be so difficult and worlds away from a baby or toddler. Leona wants to prepare Alyssa for the world but she also wants to protect her at the same time. It’s a balance between giving her freedom, support and protection. Leona getting together with her now Husband Ross at 23 was quite a difficult time, for all involved. But he has been a great father figure to Elyssa and even asked her before proposing to Leona! Elyssa now has three younger sisters, but Ross treats all of them exactly the same, Elyssa was his first daughter. Leona had straightforward births with her first two daughters, Alyssa and Indigo. With her third daughter, Willow, she had a scare at 28 weeks with a bleed, she was ok but was then born prematurely at 34 weeks and had to have a stay in the NICU. With Leona’s fourth daughter, Dustie, she lost her plug at 30 weeks, she went into hospital and once there she started to bleed. She was admitted and she had to do all of this alone because of Covid. Her waters broke but when she got examined she was actually less dilated than when she first came in and was taken to the labour ward. Sadly, the midwife now caring for her wasn’t being very supportive, Leona was very alone and very scared. Eventually a Dr came and examined her again and Dustie was born 28 minutes later!         BEST MOMENTS   “She was how I became a mummy”   “I’m not going through with it, I’m having a baby”   “She was very much like a second mum…she has this incredible relationship with Elyssa that is different to any of the others because she helped raise her”   “I want to keep her young but I want to let her grow”   “You hand over your whole life in this little person and you are handing over every little bit of trust you have”     VALUABLE RESOURCES   www.petalscharity.org www.tommys.org www.arc-uk.org www.sands.org.uk         ABOUT THE GUEST   Leona Bugden   @leona_bugden     ABOUT THE HOST Zoe Cresswell Devoted mother of two (and a big hairy dog), UK trained midwife, doula and personal trainer, specialising in pre and postnatal fitness. Zoe was born in the UK and before moving to Dubai in 2013 and worked as a midwife in central London, both in a birth centre and a very busy NHS hospital. Although late to the scene, Zoe is an aspiring athlete having won numerous triathlons and representing Great Britain where she placed within the top 10 on the world stage. With her husband James, the couple will soon be launching their cloth nappy company, Bop & Bee, where they hope to inspire families to swap a few disposable nappies a day for the more planet friendly option of cloth. Zoe’s goal is to share her knowledge and experience, tell real life stories, manage expectations and open up those often difficult conversations. Zoe’s own motherhood journey has been full of twists and turns as she put everything on hold and went through numerous miscarriages and rounds of IVF.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram : @zoecresswell_me Facebook: Zoe Cresswell LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-cresswell