Surprise baby Liam is now 17 months old (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
Aged 20, Niamh Hearn was a carefree student partying near enough ‘every night’.
But after being admitted to hospital with severe stomach cramps, her life turned around in an instant – and she left the ward with a newborn baby.
As she didn’t know she was pregnant, the now 21-year-old had attended pub crawls and festivals in the months prior, putting the recurrent nausea she felt down to a bug.
Although Niamh did think she might be pregnant– especially as she’d gone up a dress size – 10 separate home tests which came up negative put an end to any doubt.
Things then came to a head on August 9 2022, when the healthcare assistant woke up with crippling stomach pains and rushed to York Hospital’s A&E with suspected appendicitis.
Tests later revealed that Niamh, who lives in York, was carrying a full-term baby and in active labour, which she believes occurred due to antibiotics affecting her contraceptive pill.
Hours later, she gave birth to healthy son Liam, born at 9.30pm and weighing six pounds.
Niamh before her pregnancy (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
The former drama student was partying ‘every night’ at the time (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
Niamh, who was studying a foundation degree in drama at University Centre Leeds at the time, was ‘in absolute shock’ after delivering her baby.
She said: ‘I woke up in crippling agony one morning. I was in so much pain on my stomach, I couldn’t move.
‘I thought it was my periods and it was the most horrendous period pains of my life.
‘I got myself up and dressed. I rang my nanna and she called 111 who told me to go to hospital straight away because they thought it was appendicitis.
‘When they were doing the observations in hospital, I actually thought I’d wet myself on the bed.
‘I got changed and when the nurse came back, she brought a wheelchair and said to me “you’re in labour”. I said “no, I can’t be” and she said “well you are, let’s go”.’
She was admitted to hospital with suspected appendicitis (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
Six hours after her waters broke, she gave birth (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
Niamh ‘wetting herself’ on the hospital bed was actually her waters breaking, and in less than six hours she had her baby in her arms.
‘My life was uni and uni work,’ she recalled. ‘Everything was running through my head. I don’t remember a single thing from when they told me I was in labour to me giving birth to Liam. It all blurred into one.’
The mum was also terrified she had unknowingly put her baby in harm’s way after drinking and smoking during the last nine months at university.
Niamh said: ‘It was such a relief hearing he was healthy. I was drinking pretty much every night at uni. I even went to a three-day festival maybe two weeks before I had him, drinking a lot.
‘I was panicking because I’m a smoker too and had smoked and drank the whole way through.
‘Thankfully he was okay.’
Here, Niamh was unknowingly nine months pregnant (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
She had gone up a dress size, but even at six months gone her stomach didn’t show signs of pregnancy(Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
As she had broken up with Liam’s dad four months before his arrival, she credited her ‘absolutely amazing’ family for rallying round her during those first few weeks.
‘When Liam came, I just froze and my mum took over – it was too much for me,’ said Niamh.
‘She took the role and sorted everything out. My sister also came and brought the tiniest babygrow she could find, nappies, milk, all the necessities we needed.’
Between having to move back in with her mum and looking after a newborn, it was a big adjustment, with Niamh saying she it took her ‘a good two months to get [her] head around it.’
Niamh put her nausea down to a bug (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
After she had Liam, Niamh’s family rallied round to support her (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)
She also had questions over how she got pregnant while taking a daily contraceptive pill, as she has ‘no idea’ antiobiotics could reduce their efficacy.
Niamh said: ‘I felt sick but there was no explanation as to why I felt sick. All the tests came back negative. I just thought it was a sickness bug.
‘I didn’t look visibly pregnant, I just looked a bit fat. I didn’t put on that much weight. I’d gone up in dress sizes but not enough that I looked pregnant.
‘I was religiously taking the pill up until the day I had him.’
Now 17 months on, Liam is a happy and healthy toddler and Niamh loves being a mum.
‘Every day I look at him and can’t believe this has happened,’ she added. ‘I wouldn’t change it now.’
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‘Every day I look at him and can’t believe this has happened.’