When Anna Jackson, 22, started experiencing abdomen pain, she thought it was caused by period cramps or that she had a burst appendix – but she was pregnant and about to give birth
A woman who rushed to the hospital thinking she had a burst appendix was shocked to find out she was actually expecting a baby – and she gave birth 40 minutes later.
When Anna Jackson, 22, began experiencing abdomen pain, she put it down to period cramps. However, when the pain started “gearing up”, she decided to go to the hospital with her partner Euan Smith, 22. Once there, doctors noticed “swelling” on her abdomen, so they asked her to take a pregnancy test.
The test came out positive and Anna says she felt “clueless” about it. At that point, doctors told the woman she was in labour and she was taken to the labour ward.
Anna gave birth to her daughter, Talia Smith, at 3.53am and weighing 7lbs on March 22, 2024 – just 40 minutes after finding out the news. The new mum says it felt like an “episode of Grey’s Anatomy” for two or three weeks before reality hit.
But both Talia, who is now eight months old, and Anna are happy and healthy and are settling into family life, Wales Online reports. Anna, who was working for a live music venue, from Stirling, Scotland, said: “I didn’t have any symptoms at all. I thought maybe I had an appendicitis and it had burst.
She said: “They think she was pressed right up against my spine. I think she was straight up and down and hidden. I was sitting there in shock. I kept repeating ‘OMG’. It took two to three weeks to come to reality. It felt like an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.”
The new mum revealed she had no symptoms leading up to the birth, saying: “I had quite bad acid reflux and if I ate I got really bloated. But I’m lactose intolerant so I thought I was eating too much dairy. It would go back down so I thought it was nothing. It was actually her moving around.”
Anna was living her life as normal – going to Amsterdam partying, drinking and eating all the foods doctors warn against – as she had no idea she was expecting. She hasn’t had any periods for the last few years due to her birth control. Anna said: “The hormonal changes I put down to it being my period for the month.”
But on March 21, 2024 Anna woke up in the early hours of the morning in pain. She said: “I thought I had bad period cramps.” Anna went to work in Glasgow that day – and it wasn’t until towards the end of her shift that the pain got worse. She said: “It got to 10 or 11pm at night. That’s when it started really gearing up.”
She decided to go to Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert that evening and was seen at around 3am, thinking it was a burst appendicitis or kidney stones. Anna said: “They kept making jokes about being pregnant. I said ‘don’t be so silly’. All of a sudden I started waddling.
“They were doing all the tests. I had a little bit of a bump – I thought I was bloated. It wasn’t really bump shaped. It was high up. They asked if I’d had the swelling on my abdomen for long. It had only been two weeks at most.”
Anna was asked to do a chemical pregnancy test and it came back as positive. She said: “I was sat there clueless. They asked ‘you know what that means’. I said ‘am I pregnant?’ They said yes. I asked ‘anything I can do?’ But they said ‘no you’re having the baby now’.”
She was in shock as doctors and nurses rushed into the room and she was taken to the A&E ward and told she was fully dilated. She was then taken up to the labour ward and had given birth to her baby just 40 minutes later.
Anna said: “It was really traumatic. I didn’t have time to think. This baby is coming whether you like it or not. She was totally healthy. There was nothing wrong with her.”
Little Talia was on a feeding tube for three days but then pulled through and she came home on March 28, 2024. Anna said: “Euan got over the shock pretty quickly. He went straight into dad mode.”
The couple said their family and community rallied around them gifting baby equipment. Anna said: “I was in auto pilot for the first few months. By the time she was four months it felt like we had caught up with that nine months of planning we would have had if we had known.
“It was difficult to get over at first. It’s empowering to know the worst possible scenario could happen but it’s fine – we’ve made it out the other side.” Anna still feels she is adjusting but says Talia is a “big personality”. She said: “She’s loud and the centre of attention. She’s a very happy baby. She’s very curious. She’s definitely a wee firecracker.”
