During her second pregnancy, Atlanta McIntyre thought she was experiencing normal morning sickness.
However, it was when she was vomiting “constantly” that the 29-year-old knew something was different. Atlanta was experiencing hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) – a severe form of morning sickness causing frequent vomiting and potential pregnancy complications.
The mum was informed that after vomiting so much, it had entered her lungs and led to pneumonia. Eventually, Atlanta’s condition became so severe she was put in an induced coma and her daughter Poppy was delivered whilst she was unconscious.
Atlanta is still recovering from her pregnancy, which she described as traumatic and wants to share her experience to help others, the Manchester Evening News reports. “I want to speak about it because I do feel that during my pregnancy it was brushed off as just morning sickness,” she said. “It started quite normally.”
“Smells would set me off but it progressed further and further to the point where after eight weeks it was every meal and after 14 weeks it was liquid. I couldn’t keep anything down and was in and out of hospital weekly with dehydration and dizziness.”, reports Wales Online.
Baby Poppy
(Image: Atlanta McIntyre)
“I was told it was bad morning sickness. But it wasn’t just morning sickness. It was horrendous. I lost over two stone during my pregnancy and I knew it wasn’t right. In the end I ended up choking on my own vomit because I was vomiting so much and I ended up in a coma before my daughter was delivered urgently at just 29 weeks.”
According to the NHS website it’s thought around one to three in every 100 women experience hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during pregnancy. Atlanta experienced symptoms such as prolonged and severe nausea and vomiting, dehydration and unusual and fast weight loss – all signs of HG.
Explaining what the condition caused for her, Atlanta said: “I was choking on my own vomit. They told me I’d aspirated on my own vomit and I choked and it ended up on my lungs.”
“So I ended up with aspiration pneumonia. I couldn’t breathe on my own. 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.”
Atlanta McIntyre developed hyperemesis gravidarum
(Image: Atlanta McIntyre)
“I knew morning sickness wasn’t rare. But the length of time I had it and how horrendous it was isn’t particularly common. 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.”
Poppy was born approximately 20 hours after Atlanta was placed in a medically induced 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 recounted.
“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.'” Post-coma, Atlanta’s memories are hazy, but she vividly recalls hallucinations. “I vaguely remember them telling me I’d had the baby. Apparently I came around six hours after coming out of the coma.”
Atlanta met her daughter for the first time a week after she was born
(Image: Atlanta McIntyre)
Atlanta only saw her daughter for the first time around a week and a half later.
“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.”
Although she still requires a feeding tube, Poppy is steadily recovering and has now reached the age of 10 months. “She’s doing really well,” said her mother.
If you are seeking help with severe pregnancy sickness, you can contact Pregnancy Sickness Support.
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