Brittany Higgins' 'acutely stressful pregnancy' and the test expectant mums dread.

Brittany Higgins is halfway through her second trimester, but her experience in the so called 'easiest' portion of pregnancy has been marred by an incredibly scary couple of weeks.

Writing from her home in Bordeaux, France, thousands of miles away from the media-storm and the stress of the Australian court proceedings against the man accused of raping her inside Parliament House, Higgins has been dealing with another flavour of stress.

"A fortnight ago, [my husband David] and I had the scare of our lives after the midwife told us halfway through my second trimester my blood test had raised red flags.

"Our baby had a high probability of a genetic disorder - which wouldn't have mattered to us - but scarily could mean he may be incompatible with life outside of the womb," she shared.

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A post shared by Brittany Higgins (@brittanyhiggins___)

After an amniocentesis (a procedure used to take out a small sample of the amniotic fluid for testing), and a "seemingly never ending wait," it was confirmed that their baby was perfectly fine and healthy.

All is well. But that doesn't take away from that feeling.

I've braced for that feeling - I know most pregnant people do. The news that something might or could be wrong with the little being growing inside.

You see, pregnancy is an anxiety inducing ride from the moment you pee on that stick.

In the first trimester it's the constant fear of miscarriage and that all important test — the NIPT test (as it's called in Australia) — that screens your blood for common chromosomal disorders and genetic abnormalities.

Here, we're advised to get it done (if we want to get it done - many choose not too), around 10 weeks into pregnancy.

Often couples wait for the all clear on that, as well as the end of first trimester anatomy scan to feel confident in announcing their pregnancy to the world.

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Of course there's still plenty that can go wrong in the latter stages of pregnancy, but those two tests — in my experience — were the most stressful.

So, for Higgins to have experienced that fear that much further on in her pregnancy... The fear that something was genetically and life-threateningly wrong with her son, while no doubt already feeling him kick and squirm inside her is, as she puts it — "acutely stressful."

"My mind can't help but drifting back to that waiting room in the hospital, full of pregnant women, who were all having the same test as us and whether they had been so fortunate," she wrote in her Instagram post.

"Talking about it takes the stigma out of these very real circumstances that people are faced with when trying to start families," she added.

I've never felt more on edge than when I was pregnant, and it's a lonely fear that can be hard to articulate to the outside world.

We know so much about what can go wrong, and the fear is always that 'it'll happen to me.' For so many parents, the news is catastrophic and in lots of cases the reasons are completely random. It's the ultimate 'it can happen to anyone.'

"Let's see if it sticks shall we?" my doctor casually told me, when she called me to confirm my pregnancy but with the aside that my "HCG levels were lower than she'd like."

To her, it wasn't a big deal. To me, that phrase sat rent-free in my head for weeks.

"We're picking up some potential issues with his kidneys," my friend was told during her 20 week ultrasound. "We'll check them out again when you're six weeks postpartum."

Cue worrying about her son's health for the entire second half of pregnancy.

I can promise that every other woman in that waiting room Higgins' speaks of was feeling on edge. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Because that's just what pregnancy is.

Higgins announced she was expecting in July, after moving from Australia to France at the start of the year to start a new life after being subjected to severe media scrutiny and online bullying.

"Big thank-you to our loved ones who have been such rocks for us during the past few weeks of uncertainty. We love you lots and are so thankful for your support," she wrote of her pregnancy scare.

Let's hope it's smooth sailing for the couple from here.

Mamamia has reached out to Brittany Higgins for comment. 

Listen to Brittany Higgins speak at the March 4 Justice rally. 

Feature image: @brittanyhiggins__