Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia - is a condition we had never heard of until we were 38 weeks pregnant with our daughter and being told she had it. Though it is not a common condition - affecting 1 in 2500 births - far too many babies do not survive it with a fatality rate of 50%. We were so lucky our little Mila did. 

To paint a picture - Mila was born into a room full of amazing medical professionals and received care immediately. After 20 minutes I finally got to hold her for about 30 seconds before she was then taken to ICU and later transferred to RCH. She had surgery at 4 days old and had her first feed through a tube at 1 week old. Cuddles with her were dependent on the day and were a huge ordeal to move all the tubes with her. At 2.5 weeks old we finally got to see her whole face and have our first night with her before bringing her home.

We had such a smooth run yet it was the scariest, most difficult time of our lives. Some families spend months in hospital and then have ongoing medical problems from CDH. 

We wanted to raise awareness and help CDH Australia in their efforts to raise funds to support research, create educational content and help affected families. Any donations would be greatly appreciated but we understand it is tough times and many can’t, we just appreciate you taking time to read this.