After the birth, however, the verbal abuse escalated.
"Continuously, all day, he would pick on my appearance, tell me I had forgotten to do something, put me down and tell me I was stupid," she said.
"It completely destroyed my self-worth."
Her partner was out of work, while Kate was working full-time and running the entire household and raising her son.
For several years things continued this way, with Kate getting more and more worn down by the constant verbal attacks, isolation and stress of running the household alone.
"I was afraid of him — he had a very explosive temper and if I'd done something when we were out in public he'd shoot me a glance and I knew as soon as nobody was around then I was going to cop his abuse," she said.
"Sometimes I wouldn't even know what I had done. Sometimes it wasn't anything I'd done at all — it could be something like bad traffic that would make him so angry, and I would wear the brunt of that anger."
Then, he started pushing and shoving Kate — leaving her with bruises, but never actually hitting her.
"In his mind, because he hadn't actually used an open hand, he wasn't violent," Kate said.
But once the abuse turned physical, it escalated quickly.
During one argument, he smashed a car window on top of Kate, covering her in glass which cut her face and landing her in hospital.
Police suspected it was domestic violence, but Kate was too scared to speak up.
"He always threatened that if I spoke with police, it would be the last thing I would do, because he would come after me," she said.
During one attack which lasted three hours, Kate's partner pushed her through walls, threw her to the ground and dragged her by her hair, smashing her face into tiles and stomping on her head.
"At one point he was on top of me and I really thought I was going to die. I couldn't breathe and it was terrifying. I don't know how I managed to get free," she said.
"But he told me if I wanted to keep going, he had no problems ending my life."
Kate somehow managed to sneak out a door and hide in bushland until she was able to raise the alarm.
She ended up taking her son and staying with her parents, and contacting police who took out a Domestic Violence Order against him.
But no charges were laid, and two weeks later, her partner tried to run her over in his car in broad daylight.
"The physical abuse was happening almost daily and I couldn't go out in public because I had bruises all over my face and body," Kate said.
On another violent incident which lasted two days, Kate's partner punched her in the face, spat on her and slammed the car door on her before choking her in their driveway, picking her up off the ground with his hands.
He pushed her through walls with so much force she almost went through both sides of the wall before knocking her to the ground and kicking her.
He only stopped when he heard police sirens after a concerned neighbour called authorities.
When the police arrived, they didn't separate the couple and Kate said she was too terrified of her partner to speak up.
The police left, and several hours later the attack continued.
"He held a knife to my throat and said he would slit my throat. There was no emotion — that was the scariest part," she said.
"It was just pure evil — he was laughing about it, and he told me after he killed me once he was going to revive me and kill me again, so I would suffer.
"At that point, if the police hadn't shown up again, I really don't think I'd be alive today."
That's when Kate knew she needed to get out. Luckily, her son had been with her parents during the worst attacks, but Kate knew she couldn't move home as her partner knew their address and had threatened to kill them.
After going to the police, she was put in touch with a range of services and authorities devoted to helping survivors of domestic violence.
She was able to move into a women's refuge run by Save the Children Australia with her son, where she was able to live anonymously.
Her partner is now facing domestic violence charges, but is yet to be sentenced.
She said she wanted to share her story to end the taboo surrounding domestic violence and to encourage others experiencing abuse to get help.
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and it also marks the beginning of the UN's 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, which ends on December 10, Human Rights Day.
The international campaign is a call to action to end violence against women and girls around the world.
* Name has been changed to protect identity.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call 111.
If you need to talk to someone, the following free helplines operate 24/7:
DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757
LIFELINE: 0800 543 354
NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737
SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666
YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234
There are lots of places to get support. For others, click here.
