Angela Cottom, mother of twin girls Ava and Amelie, barely survived after one of their fingernails leaked into her bloodstream during childbirth. The twins were born 5-weeks pre-mature and also barely survived the ordeal.
An unborn child’s fingernail separating from the child and entering the mother’s bloodstream is a rare condition . Cottam is one of out every 80,000 mothers affected.
The fingernail caused considerable damage to Cottam’s body. She suffered severe internal bleeding and a collapsed lung. She lost seven pints of blood and fell into a coma for 12 hours from the ordeal.
In order to save her life, doctors gave Cottam 22 blood transfusions. She tells News.com :
“I feel so lucky to be here and really blessed that both the girls are with us because it could have been so different. There are moments when I’ve been on my own and I’ve had a little cry and thought ‘What if?’ But I try not to dwell on that and just thank my lucky stars the doctors and midwives on duty that day recognized what was happening.”
It was shortly after inducing labor that one of the midwives noticed Angela was struggling for breath. Medics determined that fluid from the sack surrounding the babies had leaked into their mother’s bloodstream.
After barely surviving Angela Cottam woke up 12 hours later and was able to hold her babies for the first time. About the situation she says:
“Knowing that I almost died has changed my perspective on life, I’m more laid back and I am enjoying being a mum more than ever because I know we were so close to losing so much.”
Here is a picture of Angela Cottam holding twins Ava and Amelie:
Do you know anyone else who has suffered from this rare condition?
