Annalise Harry, a 27-year-old coffee shop worker from Morecambe in Lancashire, gave birth to her daughter Gracie Price just eight minutes after being seen by a triage nurse at A&E. She had no idea she was pregnant, attributing her symptoms to other causes.
Gracie was born on March 7 at around 34 weeks of pregnancy, weighing 4lb 2oz. Annalise had gone to hospital with agonising stomach pains, convinced she was suffering from a burst appendix. Within minutes of being checked, she was in the delivery suite and gave birth.
No Obvious Signs of Pregnancy
Annalise said there were no 'obvious' signs she was pregnant before the birth. She was taking the pill, so had no periods, and did not develop a bump. The size 12-14 mum put the 'tiniest' amount of weight gain down to comfort eating, while 'occasional' bouts of nausea were attributed to workplace stress.
Completely unaware of her pregnancy, Annalise, who is in a relationship with George Price, 28, was drinking energy drinks almost every day and had enjoyed a boozy Christmas indulging in gin.
Sudden Labour and Birth
On March 6, Annalise began suffering from stomach pains during her shift, which she assumed were period cramps. She took two painkillers and carried on working. The following morning, the pains intensified and, fearing something was seriously wrong with her appendix, she arrived at A&E in tears.
Annalise said: "I was drinking energy drinks basically every day and I had one the Friday before she was born. No symptoms, no bump, nothing to obviously show that I was pregnant." She added: "I took two ibuprofen and carried on with the day, just battled through. I came home that night and then the Saturday morning when I woke up I just felt so much worse."
She continued: "I was crying in pain and was like 'I'm going to go to A&E'. It only took eight minutes for me being checked out at triage to being in the delivery suite for her to be born." A midwife examined her and said, "okay, well the head's there so you're having this baby now."
A Shock Transition to Motherhood
Annalise described the overnight transition into motherhood as 'daunting' and a complete shock given the absence of obvious symptoms. She said: "I'd put on the teeniest tiniest bit of weight but it wasn't anything that would signify I was 34 weeks pregnant. I was eating more because I was in a job that I didn't like so I'd just eat my feelings. I was drinking gins over Christmas and I'd had the occasional ones on other days."
She added: "I would have the occasional day of being sick, which would obviously be morning sickness, but it only happened on days when I was going to work. There was nothing wrong with her, she only had the tiniest infection where they gave her some antibiotics for her but other than that she was perfectly healthy."
Now insisting she 'wouldn't change it for the world', Annalise describes Gracie as the 'perfect' baby. She said: "To begin with it was very much a case of 'I can't do this'. It was very daunting and very scary. My life has obviously changed quite a bit because I went from working five days a week to having to text my manager saying, 'so my period wasn't period after all and it was in fact labour and now I'm a mum'."
She concluded: "I wouldn't change it for the world, I just love her to pieces. She is absolutely perfect, she sleeps great, she eats well. She's so happy - she's so smiley and cheeky."
