Twins Amelie and Ava were born 5 weeks early and had to be resuscitated with oxygen after delivery.
They are lucky to be alive. But their mother is even luckier, since she almost died during delivery, after a suspected fingernail or hair from one of them passed into her bloodstream during their birth.
The rare condition called amniotic fluid embolism affects only one in 80,000 births. It's where fluid from the sac surrounding the babies leaks into the mother's bloodstream through blood vessels in the womb.
Angela Cottam, 32, from Wales, suffered severe internal bleeding and her lungs collapsed.
She needed 22 transfusions and spent 12 hours in a coma.
Cottam tells The Daily Mail UK, "Knowing that I almost died has changed my perspective on life, I'm more laid back and I am enjoying being a mum more than ever because I know we were so close to losing so much."
Cottam was admitted to the hospital with pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition which causes high blood pressure and swelling in pregnancy. Her doctors decided to induce her. Her labor started out fine but then she was struggling to breathe.
Doctors say cells from either a fingernail or hair from the unborn children, that were in the fluid, caused a severe allergic reaction. She immediately was given oxygen and an emergency c-section.
After successfully delivering the girls, Cottam was hemorrhaging and given 22 blood transfusions. Three hours later, doctors managed to stabilize her and she was placed on life support. She woke after 12 hours and was able to hold her twins.
Comments