A woman has revealed how she went into hospital with a suspected kidney infection and came out with a newborn baby.
Rachael Fogarty, who suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - a hormone condition that can make getting pregnant more difficult - had no idea she was pregnant.
The new mum, from Liverpool, was so used to having irregular periods that when her waters broke in November, she thought her period had returned.
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But two days later, after struggling with pain and assuming she had an infection, she was told in A&E: "I can feel your baby and it's coming."
Hours later, Rachael gave birth to her son, James. You can watch a clip of Rachael's experience below:
“I’ve got PCOS meaning I struggle with my periods, I’ve gone a year without them," says Rachael.
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“The signs that I missed I passed off as logical reasons to something else. Signs that my water broke, I passed that off as my time of the month, then the pains started but I just tried to ignore them and went to work.
“I called 111 who said I should go to hospital but it’s a five hour wait for an ambulance and they suspected a kidney infection or appendix.
“I live five minutes away from my nearest hospital so I told them to forget it and I’d go if it gets worse. I was up all night Thursday night and once thought ‘oh these pains are seven minutes apart, that’s strange’ but never thought it could be pregnancy.
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“On Friday 26 I went to A&E just to see what was going on, I was thinking I’d be given painkillers and antibiotics for an infection.
“After being taken round a few departments I ended up with the gynaecologist who said: ‘Are you sure you are not pregnant?’
“I said ‘not impossible’. The gynaecologist replied ‘well I can feel your baby and it’s coming, so are you sure?’ I said yeah I’m sure, I’m definitely not.
“The gynaecologist asked for an ultrasound and put it on, then looked at me and pointed to the screen where I saw a baby and said ‘ there’s your baby and it’s coming’.
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“I rang my mum who couldn’t believe it and then my partner who was just as shocked as me. “I had a C-section in the early hours of Saturday 27 November and James was born."
After struggling with complications, Rachael says she ended up having to have the assistance of a VAC machine. 'Vacuum assisted closure' is a type of therapy or dressing to help wounds heal.
“My C-section failed, I ended up with dead skin so I had to have two further surgeries to remove the skin," says Rachael.
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“I had an open wound 27cm long and about 14cm deep with what’s called a VAC machine attached to me for 12 weeks.
“I still have the wound on standard dressings which are like big plasters. I have to go and get changed every day so I’ve not really been able to enjoy maternity leave.
“I also ended up with Covid and an MRSA whilst I was in hospital.”
Rachael added: "James is great, he's been great from day one considering the circumstances, he was off all major observations within an hour of being born.
“All the nurses kept telling how alert he is and it’s like he’s been here before.”
Lucy Devine