Woman who lost child from ectopic pregnancy is delighted after giving birth to a SECRET baby

When Sadie Brittle lost her baby to an ectopic pregnancy she was understandably devastated. 

But seven months on, the hairdresser has a new reason to be thankful – after giving birth to her lost baby’s secret twin.

Mrs Brittle, 32, only discovered she was carrying another child almost three months after collapsing at work with a potentially deadly ruptured fallopian tube.

Yesterday, as she cradled six-day-old Teddie at home with husband Gary, 37, Mrs Brittle told how the healthy foetus growing in her womb had been hidden on hospital scans by heavy internal bleeding she suffered when her world fell apart eight weeks into the pregnancy. 

Sadie Brittle, 32, from Tamworth, lost her baby to an ectopic pregnancy she was understandably devastated. But seven months on, the hairdresser has a new reason to be thankful – after giving birth to her lost baby’s secret twin, Teddie

The second baby was only picked up nearly three months after having surgery to remove the ectopic pregnancy, after Mrs Brittle carried out a pregnancy test because her stomach was still swollen.

The phenomenon, where a viable embryo is implanted in the uterus and the other implanted elsewhere – usually in one of the fallopian tubes – as an ectopic pregnancy, is known as a heterotopic pregnancy, and affects only one in 30,000 natural conceptions.

• Mother left with a drooping face after suffering from sudden…

  ‘We need to go back to 3 proper meals a day’: Public health…

  More children are obese than EVER before: One in three 10…

  The £100 ‘condom’ that is £4,900 cheaper than IVF but just…

She said: ‘I was devastated after my ectopic pregnancy in April.

‘I’d lost a lot of blood when it ruptured and I was told I couldn’t work for three months.

‘We had a holiday to Spain at the end of the three months. I was on a sun lounger and wondered why my stomach was still big and quite high up, so I took a test.’ 

Her surprised GP confirmed the pregnancy once the Brittles and daughter Summer, aged four, flew home.

She only discovered she was carrying another child almost three months after collapsing at work with a potentially deadly ruptured fallopian tube. Doctors say Teddie was being hidden by heavy internal bleeding in her womb

The secret baby was only picked up after Mrs Brittle carried out a pregnancy test because her stomach was still swollen following surgery. A hospital scan then revealed she was 19 weeks pregnant (pictured her hospital scan)

Mrs Brittle said there was ‘no way’ she’d got pregnant after surgery, and a midwife initially thought her symptoms were being caused by pregnancy hormones from the first failed pregnancy. But a hospital scan then revealed she was 19 weeks pregnant.

Teddie was born via caesarean section last Thursday, weighing 6lbs 10oz.

Mrs Brittle, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, added: ‘I was just so relieved that everything was OK.

‘I was a high risk pregnancy so had so many more scans than usual.’ 

Her husband, a 37-year-old builder, added: ‘I was born with cleft palate so I was just really worried.

‘It really was a roller coaster pregnancy, everything that could have happened, happened.

Teddie was born via Caesarean section last Thursday, weighing 6lbs 10oz. The family were just relieved everything went OK and he is healthy

Mrs Brittle said: ‘It was a birth of mixed emotions as he should have had a brother or sister’ (Teddie pictured in a 4D scan)

‘We were trying for a baby at the time, but it was more a case of when it happens, it happens.

WHAT IS AN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY?

An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.

The fallopian tubes are the tubes connecting the ovaries to the womb. If an egg gets stuck in them, it won’t develop into a baby and your health may be at risk if the pregnancy continues.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to save the pregnancy. It usually has to be removed using medicine or an operation.

In the UK, around 1 in every 80-90 pregnancies is ectopic. This is around 12,000 pregnancies a year.

Source: NHS Choices

‘We were so relieved when everything was OK with Teddie, but it was a birth of mixed emotions as he should have had a brother or sister.’ 

Although rare in natural pregnancies such as Mrs Brittle’s, the rate of heterotopic pregnancies in cases of assisted reproduction jumps to as many as one in 100 pregnancies.

Symptoms of ectopic pregnancy – where a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb – include stomach pain, vaginal bleeding and pain in the tip of the shoulder. 

They usually develop between the fourth and 12th week of pregnancy, although they do not always appear.

In the UK, around one in every 80-90 pregnancies are ectopic, according to the NHS – equivalent to around 12,000 each year. 

There are often caused by blocked fallopian tubes, but in many cases, there can be no obvious explanation.

It is not possible to save an ectopic pregnancy. The egg usually has to be removed using medicine or an operation.