Jackie Jarvis knows first-hand the importance of the Royal Flying Doctor Service after needing their help when she started experiencing cramps at just 28 weeks pregnant.
The Agriculture and Food Minister told The Sunday Times the dramatic story for Mother’s Day.
Ms Jarvis just thought she had a stomach bug when she started experiencing cramps while pregnant with her second child Madison in 1999.
She was not too concerned until a doctor at the Margaret River Hospital told her she was having contractions and would need to be flown to Perth in case she gave birth.
“I was like, ‘No I’ve had a baby before I know what contractions feel like’, but what I didn’t factor in is that contractions at 28 weeks is very different to when you have contractions at 40 weeks,” she said.
“For anyone in regional WA there’s only one place to have a premature baby and that’s in Perth and so they called the flying doctor.”
Luckily for Ms Jarvis it was not an emergency as she was only experiencing contractions and had not dilated at that stage.
“We went to the Margaret River airstrip and as they were loading me in they said there is someone having a heart attack in Collie so because I was stable we flew via Collie to pick up the guy,” she said.
![News. Mothers Day. Jackie Jarvis (right) with daughter Madison in the gardens at Parliament House. Jackson Flindell](https://timesofsydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5d7ebc84fcfd8b32226c185473647edc137c5793.jpg)
“The pilot was also a doctor and then there was a nurse. They were amazing, it was all seamless.”
Ms Jarvis was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection when she arrived at King Edward Hospital and spent two weeks in Perth on antibiotics.
For the rest of her pregnancy she had an irritable uterus, which caused contractions anytime she did too much heavy lifting, but thankfully her daughter Madison, who is now 24, was born full-term at the Busselton Hospital in July, 1999.
Ms Jarvis will be celebrating this Mother’s Day with Madison and her two other daughters, Caitlin and Ashlee.
![Ms Jarvis will be celebrating this Mother’s Day with Madison and her two other daughters, Caitlin and Ashlee.](https://timesofsydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/3ffe6d7aea18cc234404b78c178414485e2bc44f.jpg)
“I’d always thought the flying doctor was for if you’re in a remote mining town or you’re in the middle of a desert, not Margaret River,” Ms Jarvis said.
“Babies get delivered at Busselton and Margaret River so I guess I never thought I’d need the flying doctor in Margaret River.”
In 2023, RFDS WA transferred 469 women for pregnancy-related issues and carried out 202 retrievals for pre-term and newborn babies.
Ms Jarvis is now an ambassador for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and is calling on all West Australians to support the vital service by donating this Flying Doctor Day on May 15.
Every dollar donated on or before May 15 will be doubled with the money funding medical equipment to allow crews to help people experiencing medical emergencies across WA.
Head to flyingdoctorday.com.au for more information.