Mum who gave birth naturally whilst in a coma can't remember labour, birth or even her pregnancy

Emma Mynors can't remember giving birth to her daughter.

She fell into a coma just before she gave birth - and gave birth to her daughter Amy whilst she was still in the coma. Afterwards she couldn't remember even being pregnant - and sadly, her memory of giving birth to her daughter has never returned.

Emma, 23, who lives in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, with husband Dean, 27, says: "When I woke from my coma, the nurses kept showing me photographs of this baby girl, and I had no idea who she was.


Emma was told at her 20 week scan that she was having a baby girl and the couple were delighted. Her pregnancy had progressed smoothly to this point, but a few weeks after the scan she developed a cold and a cough.

The following morning she started complaining of feeling light-headed and was struggling to catch her breath:

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"I thought it must have been an infection I had picked up from my son Conrad, who is three. I thought I couldn't breathe because the baby must have pushing on my diaphragm.

"But as the day progressed I started feeling worse and my breathing was getting more and more shallow, so my husband called an ambulance to take me to hospital for a check up. I was only 29 weeks pregnant, so I wanted to check that everything was ok with myself and the baby."

Emma was taken to Colchester General Hospital where doctors diagnosed that she was suffering from pneumonia.

"I was terrified, as I didn't know what it would mean for the baby," says Emma. "They showed me the x-ray pictures and I could see all this white fluid covering my lungs. My vision kept blurring and I was feeling terrible."

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Shortly afterwards, Emma fell into a coma, and she remained unconscious for four weeks. During this time she suffered two strokes and her body swelled so much that doctors had to cut her wedding ring from her finger.

She had also managed to give birth naturally to her daughter Amy during that time, who weighed a tiny 3Ib, 5oz.

But when she awoke and the nurses showed her photographs of her tiny daughter lying in her incubator, she had no idea that the baby was hers.

"I had remembered that I was married and I had a son, but I had no idea that I'd been pregnant," explains Emma. "The nurses were congratulating me, and I didn't know what they were talking about it.


The nurses explained to Emma that her daughter had been born prematurely. They had only realised she was in labour when they examined her and saw the baby's head had already started to emerge.

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"It seemed incredible to think that I had given birth naturally whilst I was still in a coma," says Emma. "I hadn't consciously pushed or experienced a single contraction, yet my little girl was here and she was healthy. It just seemed like a miracle."

Emma was allowed to hold her daughter a few days later when she had regained some of her strength:

"I really wanted to see my daughter, but it took a while before I bonded with her, as I hadn't even remembered giving birth to her. At first, it seemed like she belonged to someone else. It took two months before I really felt as though she was mine."

Emma was finally allowed home a month after giving birth. She can now recall some moments of her pregnancy, but she still has no recollection of the birth:

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"I can remember having a bump and I can remember choosing the baby's name and buying some pink babygros. But I can't remember giving birth to Amy at all.

"I did enjoy cuddling her and doing things for her, but it did feel strange for a while. It took me a few months to get used to being a new mum again. It's amazing to think how Amy came into the world. Even when I was unconscious, my body knew what to do. I'd love to be able to remember giving birth to her, but I'm just grateful that we are both alive and healthy now."

Words: Lucy Laing at Worldwide Features