Crook woman stunned by unexpected baby arrival

Daisy Young had no idea she was pregnant. But four hours after going to hospital with unexplained stomach cramps, the 21-year-old had a baby boy. She and her mother Maggy Young told the BBC their story.

Maggy had spent the day gardening when she got a text from her daughter Daisy saying she was in hospital.

"My first thought was she had been in a car accident," Maggy, who had last seen her daughter shortly before the coronavirus lockdown, said.

"I called and she just said 'I've had a baby'.

"I couldn't believe it. My first thought was 'I want to be there, you did it all on your own, I'm so proud of you'.

"I turned to my husband Graham and just said 'hello granddad'.

"His face was a picture."

While Maggy had been grappling with unwieldy weeds behind the family's pub in Crook, County Durham, Daisy, a fast-food restaurant worker, had been 180 miles north giving birth in Dundee.

"I had stomach cramps the day before but thought nothing of it," Daisy, who moved to the Scottish city three years earlier to study history, said.

"They had got worse overnight though so I went into A&E.

"The doctors said 'might you be pregnant', but I just figured that was impossible.

"There was no sign I was, I was still having my periods, I had put a little bit of weight on but I just thought that's because I had started a job at McDonald's.

"They did a scan anyway and told me I was 37 weeks pregnant and was in labour.

"I was shocked. Actually, shock doesn't begin to cover it."

She went to hospital at 14:30 BST on 9 June, found out she was expecting and at 18:48 gave birth to Elijah John, who weighed in at 6lb 13oz (3kg).

"I was just 'Oh my God, I've had a baby'," Daisy said.

"I held him, I wasn't even crying, I was just too shocked.

"I wanted my mum there."

Maggy arrived at 02:00 the following day having been cleared to breach the coronavirus travel ban by the Dundee doctors.

"Because of the shock of it all they were more concerned about Daisy's mental well being," Maggy said.

"I walked in and saw Daisy," she said.

"She had her hand in the cot, it was obvious she loved him so much.

"She asked if she could come home, I said 'of course'."

Daisy, who had used contraception and is unclear who the father is, said she would have been unable to cope if she couldn't have moved home.

It is rare for a woman not to know she is a pregnant but it can happen.

About one in 2,500 births is a so-called "cryptic birth", which equals about 300 births in the UK per year, and here a variety of reasons why signs can be missed.

Read more here

Hospital staff rounded up clothes and nappies, to give to the new mother.

Because it was classed as a concealed pregnancy, social services also got involved, helpfully providing a basket for Elijah to sleep in.

"They realised it was not a usual concealed pregnancy in that it was the baby who had done the concealing," Maggy said.

After three days, the new baby, mother and grandmother returned to Crook, Elijah cradled in a car seat donated from a family friend's attic.

"He is gorgeous, so placid and laid back, you can see how he was able to hide," Maggy said.

"He lies stretched out, not in a ball, and, just like his grandfather, he doesn't move much.

"Because Daisy is quite tall we think he was able to lie along her spine which is why there was no sign of him.

"He is so well-loved and so meant to be here."

Daisy, who had quit university after her second year and was working at McDonalds as she looked for other courses, is now coming to terms with being a mother.

"It has been a complete change of plans but I'm really happy," she said.

"It's changed everything in my life, but it's changed it in the best way possible."

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