A mum-to-be with the same pregnancy condition as Kate, the Princess of Wales missed the birth of her baby after she was put in an induced coma for morning sickness.
Atlanta McIntyre, 29, developed the extreme vomiting syndrome while carrying her second child, Poppy. But she was sick so much, she inhaled vomit which entered her lung and caused pneumonia. She was put in an induced coma by doctors and her daughter was urgently delivered while she was still unconscious. It took two weeks after Poppy was born for the two to be united.
Atlanta from Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said: “I can’t remember anything before being put in the coma. But I was woken up a few days later and was told I’d had the baby.” Poppy was born around 20 hours after Atlanta was put into a coma. “Her heart rate had dropped so low and so quickly they decided they had to deliver her while I was in the coma,” Atlanta explained. “From what I was told they sat my partner down and said: ‘If we don’t deliver her now you could lose both of them.’”
Get £75 off ‘stunning’ Nobody’s Child check coat loved by fashion influencers
Poppy after she had been born while her mum was still unconscious in a coma
(
Image:
Atlanta McIntyre)
Atlanta’s daughter Poppy, now 10 months, is doing well after the delivery
(
Image:
Atlanta McIntyre)
“I remember first seeing my daughter around a week and a half later. It was a mixture of emotions to be honest. I was in disbelief that she was here because she was so small. And because I had pneumonia I wasn’t allowed to touch her or hold her for two weeks.” Atlanta had developed hyperemesis gravidarum – an extreme form of morning sickness which causes you to vomit several times a day and can cause complications during pregnancy.
Atlanta McIntyre holding poppy after missing her delivery due to pregnancy sickness complications
(
Image:
Atlanta McIntyre)
Kate, the Princess of Wales, experienced hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during all three of her pregnancies and has spoken openly about her experiences, including how it made her pregnancy more challenging. According to the NHS website around one to three in every 100 women experience hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during pregnancy.
Atlanta now also wants to raise awareness of the condition. “I knew morning sickness wasn’t rare. But the length of time I had it and how horrendous it was isn’t particularly common,” she said. “Since I’ve been researching it I have seen a lot more people who have experienced it telling their stories and I think that’s important. “I’ve had lots of mums tell me they also had it, some of them all the way through their pregnancy, and they felt their worries were dismissed. It’s important to not push people away who have lost as much weight as I did throughout my pregnancy after vomiting so much. I do feel I was brushed aside as someone who just wasn’t particularly coping well with the pregnancy. I felt helpless.”