A woman who had been sterilised to prevent herself from having any more children was stunned when she gave birth to a baby boy aged 46, as she didn’t even know she was pregnant
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Woman shocked at giving birth after not knowing she was pregnant
At 46 Barbara had two grown-up kids and had been sterilised to prevent her and her partner Art from having any more children.
So you can imagine her surprise when she gave birth to a baby boy years after getting her tubes tied.
The mum had been at her retail job, helping a customer at the till when she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and as the day went on, the pain kept getting more intense.
Arriving home later that day, her daughter was very concerned offering to call an ambulance for her mum.
But it wasn’t until Barbara discovered blood in her underwear that she agreed to have Art take her to the hospital.
(
Image:
TLC)
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Appearing on a resurfaced episode of TLC’s I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant back in 2019, Barbara, from the US, recalled: “I got up to go to the bathroom and noticed blood in my pants and that’s when I knew something was terribly wrong.”
Upon arriving at the hospital, Barbara was seen by a nurse and given a bed to lie in until the nurse came back.
But things soon took a turn for the worse.
“I felt a tremendous amount of pressure between my legs and in my pelvic area,” Barbara says. “The pressure was so bad that I truly thought at that point I was dead.
“I ripped my clothes off and got on all fours because something was coming out of me. I honestly thought it could be a tumour unlodging.”
Art went off to get emergency help for his partner and when he returned, he was able to see exactly what was going on.
Barbara wasn’t dying – she was giving birth.
“I was just going to be a mother again. I was 46 years old, that was shocking,” she admits.
“There was not a lot of pushing, he just came out and Art lunges towards him so he wouldn’t fall off the table.
“I hear this cry, I’m sure that my chin hit the floor. Shock, pure shock.”
As the initial shock wore off, the couple then became concerned that something might be wrong with their newborn son, as they hadn’t been aware of the pregnancy.
Barbara continued: “I was scared to death that something was wrong with him. Having no prenatal care I was concerned about any number of physical or mental disabilities.”
Thankfully the nurses soon returned with the baby and reassured the parents he was completely healthy.
Art and Barbara quickly fell in love with their third child and named him Hunter as he “snuck up on them”.
The mum added: “I had taken such a precaution not to have any more children, then to have this life sat in my arms was the most amazing feeling I had ever felt.
“It didn’t matter any more if we thought we were too old, I became determined to be the best mom I could be in spite of my fears of not knowing what tomorrow would hold.
“I knew he had to be something special because he was born against all odds, I feel blessed.”
Wondering how Barbara became pregnant after having her tubes tied?
According to MD and gynaecologist Melissa Gryer, while rare, having. ababy after being sterilised is not impossible.
She explained: “When the tubes are tied the fallopian tubes are disconnected and over time they can heal back together and form a new tube.”
One in 300 women who have their tubes tied go on to conceive years down the line.
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