I gave birth by myself just six minutes after realising I was pregnant – I thought I had appendicitis
A MUM has told of her shock when she gave birth just six minutes after realising she was pregnant.
Lauren Newey, 22, had tucked her daughter up in bed just hours before her waters broke and she delivered son Albie when she was in the bathroom by herself.
But it was only then that she knew she was having a baby because she had experienced what is known as a cryptic or a stealth pregnancy.
The mum-of-two was then taken to hospital where she had to start online shopping immediately for baby items, including a car seat, because she had no way of preparing before.
She told The Sun: “I didn’t have much time to get my head around it all. It happened so fast.”
Lauren had had a completely normal day in April with her daughter Elsie, two, taking her shopping and then on a playdate at a friends house in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.
But after tucking Elsie up in bed at around 9pm, she woke up two hours later with stomach cramps so took herself to the bathroom.
Lauren said: “It felt like it was getting worse. I lived on my own so I couldn’t go to the hospital.
“At around 1am I started running a bath thinking I had appendicitis. An hour later I stood up and my waters broke.
“I started pushing and then I delivered him completely by myself. It was crazy.”
Her mum-in-law came to look after her daughter while she went to hospital, where she spent just 12 hours before being discharged.
During that time she had to use her phone to buy a car seat for Albie for the journey back home.
Lauren experienced what is known as a cryptic pregnancy.
In some rare cases, mothers only realise they are pregnant when labour begins.
Studies suggest about one in 475 pregnancies go unnoticed until about 20 weeks, while one in 2,500 go unnoticed until delivery.