Mother and child defy doctors’ fears to overcome pregnancy horror story

SAME ILLNESS AS KATE BUT

Shannon Handyside dropped to five stone and almost died during her pregnancy with baby Ivy due to pregnancy Reporter YOUNG mum Shannon Handyside was given the ultimatum every expectant parent fears – to either terminate the pregnancy or risk your own life.

Medics feared the worst when the expectant mum’s weight plummeted to five stone as she became bed-ridden by a rare illness which left her “constantly” vomiting.

Shannon, from South Shields, was struck down with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) – the same condition which has plagued all three of the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancies.

Refusing to sacrifice her unborn child, Shannon put her life on the line and defied the medics’ recommendation to terminate her child.

Now – proudly sat next to her healthy two-year-old daughter Ivy – Shannon has bravely shared her horrifying ordeal in a bid to help others suffering from the same condition.

She said: “They gave us the ultimatum where I was told I could lose my baby or my own life. My consultant told me they had never seen anyone that bad.

“I told them I would rather die than terminate this pregnancy, I’m not killing my baby.

“I said we need to find another option because I’m not doing that, I could still feel her moving.

“I got myself in a frame of mind that if I got my baby through and I passed, I was mentally prepared myself for it.”

It was seven weeks into the pregnancy that Shannon started to suffer from intense vomiting that was initially dismissed as morning sickness.

The now 23-year-old fell pregnant in March 2015, and was told her child was growing at a normal rate in her eight-week scan.

Shannon was not diagnosed with HG until June, by which point she had been admitted to South Tyneside District Hospital for the 10th time and had begun her alarming drop in weight.

She said: “I started being sick and people were saying I’ll be fine, it was just morning sickness.

“I just felt awful, the smell of food was making us feel queasy. From there on the vomiting was just constant, all day every day.

“I hardly moved out of my bed. I very rarely got up, People were visiting us in hospital and were in shock seeing how thin I’d got.

“Anytime I had a good day, I had four or five bad days following it. I’m the kind of person who likes to do things myself, so it was hard for me to sit back.”

Shannon’s deterioration prompted medics to issue the stark ultimatum in June which was instantly refused.

The expectant mum instead had a central venous catheter inserted into her neck to feed her, which days later became infected.

Shannon, who now works as a holistic therapist, suffered septic shock, but again defied medics by refusing to have another tube inserted.

The expectant mum’s baby continued to grow normally despite her trauma, and it was on her 21st birthday on June 23 that boyfriend Matty surprised her with a proposal at her hospital bedside.