'I thought I had just a headache - it nearly cost me and my baby our lives'
A pregnant woman put her headache down to "kids screaming" at a school sport's day but later found it she had a potentially life threatening condition.
Ceri Richardson, from Whitchurch, Cardiff, simply took paracetamol for the pain before further symptoms developed with a severe pain in her ribs and bleeding which led her to go to the maternity unit at the University Hospital of Wales.
Midwives found she had pre-eclampsia – a potentially life-threatening condition which caused her blood pressure to skyrocket. They also found out that Ceri had suffered a placental abruption – a serious complication that occurs when the placenta separates from the inner wall of the uterus.
“When I had the initial headache I thought it was caused by all the kids screaming in my older son’s sports day, so I took some paracetamol for that. And I thought the pain in my ribs was caused by the way the baby was lying in me,” she said.
“I didn’t put two and two together that it could be high blood pressure as it had been so low throughout my pregnancy and it didn’t cross my mind that I might be experiencing pre-eclampsia.
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Benji was allowed to go home on July 18"After the birth the doctor said to me that I’d been really lucky because I was bleeding so much that I could have lost my life – and Benji could have lost his too.”
Ceri was grateful to the staff at the hospital for the way they looked after her, reported WalesOnline.
“It was terrifying at the time, but I cannot fault the staff for the way they managed to calm me down,” she recalled. “One of the midwives in particular was so kind and caring – she looked after me so well. The anaesthetists were amazing too.
"They talked through everything that was happening to me and we even discussed baby names which really put me at ease.”
The decision was made to take Ceri to theatre where she was given an emergency Caesarean section. Her son, Benji Richardson, was born in the early hours of Thursday, July 6, weighing 4lb 7oz.
Ceri, who was at 35 weeks’ gestation when Benji arrived into the world, said she was allowed to have the shortest of cuddles with her newborn before he was taken away to be given additional breathing support.
He was then moved to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where he was intubated and put under a special light to treat his jaundice.
She continued: “His lungs weren’t mature enough. The steroids they gave me didn’t have time to work as I got to the hospital so quickly. But a week on and he’s now had the breathing tube taken out. He’s still got one for his food as he’s not keen on drinking a bottle yet.”
Ceri, who needed two blood transfusions after the C-section, said Benji was allowed to come home on July 18. “I would like to say the biggest ‘thank you’ to the staff. They’re all angels and they deserve so much praise. No words I say will ever be enough," she said.
But she is worried that not enough women know about symptoms of pre-eclampsia which include high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Others signs can be sudden swelling of the face, hands, and feet, headaches, vomiting, pain below the ribs, and vision problems.
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