Lantrisant woman wakes up from coma to find her baby has been born

A woman who was left in a coma after experiencing severe pregnancy sickness has revealed that she woke up to discover her baby had been born.

Atlanta McIntyre, 29, from Llantrisant in Rhondda Cynon Taf, suffered extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG),

During a bout of vomiting, Ms McIntyre choked and doctors had to put her into a coma.

When she regained consciousness, she learned that her daughter was born by cesarean section.

“I was so shocked and in disbelief,” Ms McIntyre said.

“I remember telling all the nurses and my partner that they were lying to me about having it.”

Pregnancy sickness, often called morning sickness, is very common, with eight out of 10 pregnant women experiencing symptoms.

But some pregnant women experience extreme vomiting and nausea, known as HG, which often requires hospital treatment.

According to the NHS, HG affects one to three in every 100 pregnant women.

“My illness started from the very beginning – when I found out I was pregnant, before I even got tested,” Ms McIntyre said.

“At about six weeks, the morning sickness really started. Every morning, I would get sick. No matter what I ate, I would get sick.”

The illness became so severe that Ms. McIntyre required repeated hospital treatment for dehydration.

“I couldn’t keep anything down. I couldn’t keep the drugs down or anything like that.

“People kept telling me ‘it will get better after the first trimester’ so, after 12 weeks, it will get better.

“I was almost 14 weeks in, and it was still weirdly severe, to the point where I couldn’t hold down fluids.

“That’s when they diagnosed me with HG.

“I was in and out of hospital on a weekly basis, especially towards the end of my pregnancy, it was almost daily that I was in and out of hospital,” Ms McIntyre added.

In February 2024, during the 29th week of her pregnancy, Ms. McIntyre began feeling sick while eating.

“I basically choked on (vomit) and it went straight into my lungs,” Ms McIntyre said.

Ms McIntyre became so ill that doctors at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil had to put her into a coma on February 19.

“I was there for about 20 hours before I had to have a caesarean section,” she said.

“Her (the baby’s) heart rate dropped very low, and they said to my partner: ‘It’s time now – we have to get her out now, otherwise she won’t make it.’

Ms McIntyre’s daughter, Poppy, was delivered prematurely on February 20 at 29 weeks, weighing 3 pounds (1.4 kg).

The child was transferred to Singleton Hospital in Swansea for care.

When Ms McIntyre woke up from the coma three days later, she said she felt terrified.

“It was terrifying – not knowing if (Poppy) was OK or not,” Ms McIntyre said.

“At that time she was intubated and ventilated, and she was in a completely different hospital to me.”

Ms McIntyre’s partner would visit her during the day before going to Singleton to spend time with his daughter in the evening.

About 10 days after she woke up from the coma, Ms. McIntyre met her daughter for the first time.

“It was really scary for us, but it was amazing to see him and see how he progressed in those few days that I wasn’t around,” Ms McIntyre said.

Now, at 10 months old, Poppy is living at home and doing well.

• Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is different from morning sickness, which affects about 80% of pregnant women.
• Morning sickness causes nausea and vomiting which usually resolves by the 16th or 20th week of pregnancy.
• In contrast, women with HG may vomit more than 50 times a day and feel persistently and severely nauseous, which can significantly interfere with their daily lives.
• Complications of HG can include excessive vomiting, significant weight loss, dehydration, and severe vitamin deficiency from malnutrition, which can threaten the health of both mother and baby.

Ms McIntyre hopes that by talking about her experience of HG, she can encourage other pregnant women experiencing the condition to seek help.

“I would say to other women – it’s not normal to feel like this,” she said.

“Don’t push it aside and say it’s just morning sickness… I was pretty much like the walking dead.

“I was dizzy, I was lethargic, I couldn’t hold my head up, I had constant headaches, I was constantly dehydrated.

“I couldn’t keep liquids down. Anything I smelled would set me off. I couldn’t eat greasy food or anything like that. I could only eat bland food – rice, bread, ginger Walnut Biscuits. That’s when it got really bad, when I couldn’t even keep them down.

“I lost a lot of weight during pregnancy. The fact that she was born three pounds surprised me.”