Pregnancy sickness put me in a coma – I woke to find my baby had been born

A girl who was positioned in an induced coma after experiencing extreme being pregnant illness has described waking to seek out her child had been born.

Atlanta McIntyre, 29, from Llantrisant in Rhondda Cynon Taf, had extreme nausea and vomiting throughout her being pregnant, referred to as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

Throughout one episode of vomiting, Ms McIntyre choked and needed to be put into an induced coma by medical doctors.

When she regained consciousness, she found that her daughter had been delivered by caesarean part.

“I used to be very shocked and in disbelief,” stated Ms McIntyre.

“I keep in mind telling all of the nurses and my companion that they have been mendacity to me about having had her.”

Illness in being pregnant, usually known as morning illness, is quite common, with eight out of 10 pregnant girls experiencing signs.

However some pregnant girls expertise excessive vomiting and nausea, referred to as HG, which frequently wants hospital remedy.

In accordance with the NHS, HG impacts about one to a few in each 100 pregnant girls.

“My illness began early on – from the second I knew I used to be pregnant, earlier than I even took a take a look at,” Ms McIntyre stated.

“Round about six weeks, the morning illness actually kicked in. Each morning, I used to be up being sick. Every part I ate, I used to be being sick.”

The illness grew to become so extreme that Ms McIntyre ended up needing repeated hospital remedy for dehydration.

“I could not maintain something down. I could not maintain remedy down or something like that.

“Individuals saved telling me ‘It will get higher after the primary trimester’ so, after 12 weeks, it will get higher.

“I hit round 14 weeks, and it was nonetheless weirdly extreme to the purpose that I could not maintain liquids down.

“That is after they identified me with HG.

“I used to be backwards and forwards weekly, particularly in the direction of the top of my being pregnant, it was every day that I used to be backwards and forwards to the hospital,” Ms McIntyre added.

In February 2024, throughout her twenty ninth week of being pregnant, Ms McIntyre began being sick whereas consuming.

“I mainly choked on [the vomit] and it went straight onto my lungs,” stated Ms McIntyre.

Ms McIntyre grew to become so unwell that medical doctors at Prince Charles Hospital, in Merthyr Tydfil, needed to put her into an induced coma on 19 February.

“I used to be in that for a superb 20 hours earlier than they did a caesarean part,” she stated.

“Her [the baby’s] coronary heart price dropped drastically, and so they stated to my companion: ‘It is time – we’ve got to get her out now, in any other case she will not make it’.”

Ms McIntyre’s daughter, Poppy, was delivered prematurely at 29 weeks on 20 February, weighing 3lb (1.4kg).

The newborn was transferred to Singleton Hospital in Swansea to be cared for.

When Ms McIntyre awoke from her coma three days later, she described feeling terrified.

“It was terrifying – not understanding whether or not [Poppy] was OK,” stated Ms McIntyre.

“She was intubated and ventilated on the time, and was in a very completely different hospital to me.”

Ms McIntyre’s companion had been visiting her through the daytime earlier than heading to Singleton to spend time with their daughter within the night.

About 10 days after waking from her coma, Ms McIntyre met her daughter for the primary time.

“It was actually scary for us, however it was superb to see her and see how she had progressed simply in these few days the place I wasn’t round,” stated Ms McIntyre.

Now, at 10 months previous, Poppy resides at residence and doing nicely.

• Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is completely different from morning illness, which impacts about 80% of pregnant girls
• Morning illness causes nausea and vomiting which normally improves by the sixteenth or twentieth week of being pregnant
• Against this, girls with HG can vomit greater than 50 occasions a day and really feel continuously and severely nauseous, considerably interfering with their every day lives
• Issues of HG can embody critical vitamin deficiency from the extreme vomiting, important weight reduction, dehydration and malnutrition, placing the well being of each mom and child in danger

Ms McIntyre hopes that by talking about her expertise of HG, she will encourage different pregnant girls experiencing the situation to hunt assist.

“I’d say to different girls – it isn’t regular to really feel like this,” she stated.

“Do not be pushed apart and be instructed it is simply morning illness… I used to be just about just like the strolling lifeless.

“I used to be dizzy, I used to be torpid, I could not carry my head up, I had fixed complications, I used to be continuously dehydrated.

“I could not maintain liquids down. Something I smelt would set me off. I could not eat greasy meals or something like that. I might solely eat bland meals – rice, bread, ginger nut biscuits. That is when it obtained actually dangerous, once I could not even maintain that down.

“I did lose numerous weight throughout my being pregnant. The truth that she was born three kilos amazes me.”