BRAVE MUM WAS WARNED: IF YOU GIVE BIRTH, YOU COULD DIE
sickness hyperemesis gravidarum
Shannon said: “Matty turned ed up with nothing so I said ‘why hy have you not got me anything?’ g?’ He said he’d left it in the house se and I didn’t believe him.
“I started to get myself worked ed up and I turned away, and nd when I looked back he was on n his knee with the ring in his is hand.”
Shannon dreaded each of the e seven scans through the course e of her pregnancy, fearing she e would go in and find out there e was no heartbeat.
In spite of her frail state, both h mum and daughter continued d to fight and Ivy was born on Friday, November 13 – a day y Shannon feared she would never see.
She added: “I didn’t genuinely believe Ivy and I were going to survive.
“I said to Matty I think I’m going to die. I could see the fear in his eyes and my mam was the same, they all put brave faces on but you could see behind that.
“They put Ivy in my arms and I just thought she was so beautiful and little.
“I then felt scared – now I’m a mam and this little baby is relying on me. I was just really grateful and thanked everyone on the ward.
“The hospital staff looked after us so well that they have now become like my family.”
Shannon continued to suffer with the effects of HG after Ivy’s birth, and had to spend three agonising days apart from the newborn when she was admitted to hospital once more.
The young mum has only regained a stone since her pregnancy, and admits the prospect of having another child fills her with fear.
HG is an extremely rare condition which is estimated to affect only four of every 1,000 pregnant women.
And after opening up about the ordeal, Shannon hopes her story can help other expectant mums experiencing similar symptoms.
She said: “I want to provide a bit of reality for some people who don’t know about HG and get a greater understanding out there.
“I think some people thought at the start I was being a drama queen.
“I want women who feel they have morning sickness but can’t hold food or water to recognise it could be HG.
“Some expectant mums who get told its morning sickness and don’t go to the hospital might end up terminating the pregnancies because they feel they can’t go on.”