A North Belfast mum has described how her life was turned upside down after unexpectedly giving birth after being told that she had a cyst.
When 22-year-old Nichole Holland was rushed to hospital on March 21, 2022, with stomach pains and cramps she believed that it was due to a possible ovarian cyst and never thought that a few hours later she would be a mum to her daughter Angel.
Speaking to Belfast Live about her surprise pregnancy, Nichole says that she feels let down by health professionals who were unable to tell her that she was pregnant in the months leading up to her giving birth.
She had been prescribed co-codamol prior to being given birth and claims that hours before she had been given it along with morphine due to the pain that she was in.
Nichole said: "For months before I gave birth to Angel I had been complaining to the doctor about swelling and pains and had blood tests and a smear test carried out only to be told that I could possibly have a cyst in my ovary.
"I was prescribed co-codamol for the pain as I was struggling to eat and losing weight and was hoping that things would settle down.
"On March 21, I was taken to hospital by ambulance after waking up in extreme pain and when I arrived at A&E, I was given more co-codamol and morphine to deal with the pain as doctors couldn't understand what I was going through.
"But then a few hours later I was told that I was 7cm dilated and was quickly rushed off and gave birth to my daughter Angel. Something that I was not prepared for as I never imagined that I was pregnant.
"Because of the drugs that I had been given, Angel was born with a codeine dependency and had to be incubated for a number of days to recover, which was such a frightening time and I am so thankful that she is a happy and healthy little girl now."
Nichole said that giving birth so unexpectedly was "the best and worst" thing that has ever happened to her, because while she says that her daughter is the best thing to ever come into her life, the ordeal she went through impacted her mental health and says she has extreme anxiety if she ever has to visit a doctor or hospital now.
She continued: "The reason that I named her Angel is because she is a gift to me that came out of the blue and turned my whole world upside down.
"But it was something that I was in no way prepared for and it has left me with a lot of trauma and anxiety and believe that given all of the tests that I had been through that someone should have picked up on the fact that I was pregnant.
"Anytime that I have to go to the doctor or hospital now I get panic attacks and it has really knocked my confidence.
"I had also also dreamed about what my first pregnancy would be like as a young girl and feel like I have been robbed of that. I never got to prepare for her, buy her clothes, a pram and a cot and when she was born I had nothing at all for her and felt like we had no hope.
"I was basically asking people in the street for help with clothes and things once we got home because we had so little, but thanks to the kindness of others we got through it."
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