Young British woman Hattie Sheppard (21) was traveling in Australia when she began to suffer from unpleasant abdominal cramps. Having initially thought she had a common stomach problem, she was left shocked at the true cause of her condition. , she found out she was pregnant and it was actually labor contractions.
- Tourist Hattie Sheppard unexpectedly gave birth to a baby while on holiday in Australia.
- At first, she thought the abdominal pain was a symptom of a stomach virus.
- She did not know about the pregnancy because of the displaced placenta and the position of the baby.
Hattie, from Doncaster, England, was on a six-month adventure with her boyfriend Bailey in Australia. However, in July of last year, the tourist began to feel ill and at first considered the abdominal cramps to be a symptom of a stomach virus. Although she took painkillers, her condition began to deteriorate.
She therefore headed to the hospital, where the doctors performed an ultrasound. Thanks to this, she revealed the real cause of the sudden convulsions. It turned out to be labor pains. “I looked at the face of one of the doctors and he was very confused. I asked him what happened and he said he saw a child there. I thought it was impossible since I was taking birth control,” Hattie remarked, not believing him at first.
Why didn’t she know about the pregnancy?
The young woman, who had no symptoms of pregnancy, gave birth ten hours later to a baby girl named Isla-Grace. The reason why she had no idea about her pregnancy was the displaced placenta, which prevented her from feeling any movement of the baby. The baby girl was also growing at the back of her spine, so Hattie had no belly.
The tourist also suffers from Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. Although the main symptoms are fatigue and weight loss, in some cases it can also make it difficult to get pregnant. “With my health condition it is difficult for me to gain weight. So they increased the dose of the medicine and I thought it was working. I used to be quite thin, but I started eating healthy again and going to the gym, so I actively tried to gain weight,” she concluded.
The young parents are currently preparing to return home to Doncaster. Hattie is happy to take away more than just memories from her holiday in Australia. “Honestly, I am very happy. It’s the strangest thing that could happen to me, but I don’t feel any panic“, she concluded.
