My morning sickness was so bad it put me in a coma & I lost 2st by 29wks – I had no idea I’d given birth until I woke up
TENDERLY holding her daughter, Atlanta McIntyre can’t quite believe this precious baby is hers.
But unlike most mums who pinch themselves at their luck of having a healthy, happy child, Atlanta is in shock because she’d been in a coma when she gave birth.
"I can't explain the feeling to be told your baby has been born and you had no idea," she told Fabulous.
“I was only six months pregnant so it was a massive shock. One moment I was trying to eat a crisp, the next I was a mum.
Massive shock
"I remember my partner Danny, 32, telling me our daughter was safe and I thought he was lying.
“Then I put my hand to where my bump was and it had gone. It was a completely surreal."
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Atlanta’s dramatic delivery was triggered by hyperemesis gravidarum, the extreme pregnancy side effect that leaves sufferers with debilitating sickness.
It affects around one per cent of mums-to-be, with Princess Kate struck down during all three of her pregnancies and needing to be hospitalised for dehydration.
I put my hand to where my bump was and it had gone. It was a completely surreal
Atlanta McIntyre
But unlike the Princess of Wales, Atlanta - who also has an eight-year-old from a previous relationship - had never experienced severe nausea and vomiting until her second pregnancy in late 2023.
"We'd been trying for a baby for a while and when I discovered I was pregnant we were so excited," says Atlanta from Llantrisant, South Wales.
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"I’d bought a digital pregnancy test. It confirmed I was three to four weeks pregnant. It was wonderful telling Danny he was going to be a daddy.
"I'd sailed through my first pregnancy with no complications whatsoever but this time I was throwing up as much as 20 times a day.
"I knew women suffered from morning sickness during pregnancy but this was relentless – morning, noon and night. I couldn't even keep a glass of water down.”
Concerned Danny, a carpenter, insisted that Atlanta went to see her GP, who diagnosed severe dehydration and prescribed anti-sickness medication.
There were also ketones in her urine, meaning her body was burning fat for energy due to a lack of food.
Relentless sickness
"I knew I needed to eat to stay healthy and give our unborn baby nutrients," Atlanta says.
"I tried to stick to simple foods - jacket potatoes, ginger biscuits, dry toast. One nurse advised I go dairy and gluten free as it might help.
"But it made no difference at all, nothing stopped the relentless sickness."
As the weeks passed, Atlanta felt increasingly weak and she was admitted to hospital. She’d had to leave her job as a healthcare support worker because she was so poorly every day.
"I was put on a drip with rehydration salts and given more anti-sickness medication. My blood pressure was very low too, at 90/60," she says.
Doctors tried giving her protein drinks as meal replacements but these also made her sick and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) was diagnosed.
Podcaster Em Clarkson, daughter of Sun columnist Jeremy, recently spoke about how HG during both her pregnancies left her with prenatal depression, calling those times “the loneliest nine months of my life”.
I began to cough violently and realised I was choking
Atlanta McIntyre
"I remember one of the midwives at the hospital saying ‘This is unfortunate but you're just going to have to live with it'," Atlanta recalls.
“I went home but had to return weekly for IV drips. It was miserable.
"As my pregnancy progressed, I should have been getting bigger but instead I watched my body shrinking away.
“My empty stomach was agony with so much acid and no food in it. I couldn't even take Gaviscon as I'd throw that up too.
"By the time I was 29 weeks pregnant I'd lost over 2st - a lot for my tiny 5ft 1ins frame.”
Then in February 2024, when she was six months pregnant and in Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil once again, Danny tried to tempt her with a packet of Quavers.
"I began nibbling on them and moments later I began retching horribly. I could feel the angry contractions in my stomach, wanting to rid my body of even the nibble of a crisp,” she says.
“I began to cough violently and realised I was choking. I was terrified and I couldn't breathe. Then everything went black and I don’t remember what happened until I woke up.”
Emergency delivery
Atlanta had choked on her own vomit and it had gone into her lung.
Doctors had to put her into an induced coma to save her life – and told panicked Danny that there was no choice but to deliver their baby right away if they were to survive.
"Poor Danny just had to hope that we both came out of it alive," Atlanta says.
Poppy was delivered soon after by emergency c-section, three months premature and weighing only 3lbs.
She was taken to a specialist unit at Singleton Hospital in Swansea while her mum fought for survival 35 miles away.
"Obviously, I was completely oblivious to all of it - no idea that our miracle daughter had just arrived into the world," Atlanta says. "Both me and our baby were in critical condition."
For the next three days, Danny frantically split his time between the bedsides of his partner and daughter, until Atlanta finally woke up from her coma.
"I opened my eyes and Danny was holding my hand. He smiled softly and showed me a photograph on his phone and told me I'd given birth to our daughter," Atlanta recalls.
I was completely oblivious to all of it - no idea that our miracle daughter had just arrived into the world
Atlanta McIntyre
"I didn't believe him at all and told him he was lying at first. Then I brushed my hands over my tummy. My bump was gone but I could feel a scar.
"I just kept looking at this photograph of her. Everything felt surreal."
Atlanta was still too unwell to see Poppy as she was suffering from pneumonia. It was ten days until she was discharged from hospital and met her daughter for the first time.
"I couldn't touch her as I had aspiration pneumonia. All I could do was peer through her incubator. She was so tiny with a huge mop of brown hair but she was so beautiful," Atlanta says.
After 14 days, Atlanta she was allowed to hold her daughter for the first time and they chose the name Poppy.
What is hyperemesis?
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is much worse than the normal morning sickness experienced during pregnancy.Unlike regular pregnancy sickness, HG may not get better by 14 weeks and for many needs hospital treatment.Sufferers may be sick numerous times each day and be unable to keep food or drink down, which can massively impact their everyday life.
Symptoms include:
- prolonged nausea and vomiting with some women being sick up to 50 times a day
- weight loss
- dehydration – sufferers can’t keep fluids down, if you're drinking less than 500ml a day, the NHS recommends you seek help
- ketosis – a serious condition that results in the build-up of acidic chemicals in the blood and urine
- low blood pressure (hypotension) when standing
Sickness may not clear up completely until the baby is born, although some symptoms can improve at around 20 weeks.HG is unlikely to harm your baby, but can cause you to lose weight during your pregnancy, so there is an increase in chance your baby will weigh less than expected.If you are experiencing severe nausea and vomiting you should see a GP or midwife before you start suffering from dehydration and weight loss
"It was an overwhelming moment when she was placed in my arms. I realised she shouldn't have even been born for another nine weeks," Atlanta says.
"The love for her was instant. I felt so grateful we were both alive."
Poppy spent four months in hospital before she was finally allowed to go home. Her early delivery had left her with an unsafe swallow and she needs to be fed through a nasogastric tube.
Instant love
She celebrated her first birthday a few weeks ago and is thriving despite her dramatic start to life.
"I’m so grateful that we are here to celebrate her birthday because it could have been a very different story,” says Atlanta.
"I do feel I was robbed of the joy of giving birth though. I'd wanted a natural water birth with as little medical intervention as possible.
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“Hyperemesis gravidarum turned my pregnancy upside down and shattered any plans I had.
“But when I look at Poppy, I realise how precious life is. I just feel so grateful that we are both here."
