Sitting in my doctor’s office, I clutched my stomach. ‘I’m calling an ambulance,’ my GP announced, while I nodded, terrified. It was March 2019 and I’d been suffering from pneumonia for months. It wasn’t getting any better and now I’d started experiencing stomach pains and heavy bleeding.
Rushed to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, I was kept in overnight. In the early hours of the morning, the doctor woke me with news. But it wasn’t anything I could have imagined. ‘You’re pregnant,’ he said. I was completely lost for words. Scans confirmed I was 16 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy.
I’d always pictured myself having children one day, and although finding out I was going to be an unplanned single mum at 37 was a shock, it felt like a chance to start fresh. The doctor explained that I had placenta praevia, a complication where the placenta implants at the bottom of the uterus, covering the cervix. It explained the bleeding and stomach pains. ‘You’ll need plenty of bed rest to minimise the bleeding,’ he advised.
Discharged after five days, pregnant life wasn’t what I’d imagined. Confined to my bed and only able to get around in a wheelchair, I felt bored and frustrated. Then, at 26 weeks, I started bleeding again. Back at the hospital doctors broke the news that I needed an emergency caesarean to give me and my baby any hope of surviving – but the chance my little boy would make it was only 50%. ‘Save him, not me,’ I cried, as I drifted in and out of consciousness.
This story is from the October 09, 2023 edition of WOMAN'S OWN.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 09, 2023 edition of WOMAN'S OWN.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Is it ever OK to lie about your age?
Kaye Adams has done it, and even Mel B jokes that she doesn't believe friend Geri Horner is 51. We ask...
‘I DIDN'T THINK.I'D SEE MUM AGAIN'int ICAT AFAR
MelB on rebuilding her life rebuilding her life after her abusive’ marriage
8 WAYS TO BECOME A MORNING PERSON
Improve body and mind with just a few simple tweaks to your daily routine
WHY YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST LOVE
(laire Dore, 50, learnt a lot from her first serious relationship
WHAT'S THE NAKED ATTRACTION ?
After a host of celebrities admitted to stripping off behind closed doors, Natalie Brown, 43, decided to bare all to find out just what all the fuss was about
MY FURY AT BEING A GRAN AT 52
Shona Sibary was far from excited when her eldest daughter welcomed her first child
A YEAR IN THE MAKING
Many of us shy away from drastic change but for these three women, it was just what they needed
I LOST 6ST AND FOUND THE REAL ME!
Shay Al-Ajami May, 32, was fed up pretending to be happy, so she decided to make it a reality
WHAT DO YOUR FEET SAY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH?
From heart disease to arthritis, here’s what they might be trying to tell you…
HOW CAN WE HELP OUR CHILDREN?
With more young people facing mental-health crises, we investigate what needs to be done