This mother was given an emergency c-section. But doctors couldn't find the baby.

As far as horror birth stories go, this one is up there. A mother in the UK has revealed that she was given an emergency c-section after she had already given birth to her son. 

Amber Hughes, from Leicester, has described the birth of her son, Olly, as ‘horrific’. At 24 weeks gestation Amber says she lost her mucous plug. Her waters broke a month later which saw her admitted to hospital. Doctors were able to delay Amber going in to labour for 16 days but baby Olly had other plans.

After spending 36 long hours in labour with Olly, doctors became concerned about the wellbeing of the baby. He had developed an infection, which could be life threatening if not attended to. So the medical team made the decision to perform an emergency c-section. However, the baby had already been born naturally.

Yes, Amber had already given birth moments before doctors cut her open to retrieve him. So when doctors opened Ambers abdomen and found no baby, panic set in.

“For a whole two minutes they were truly baffled” Amber told the Daily Mail. “I was literally going in to meltdown-  It couldn’t just disappear!” she said. 

“I was expecting my bundle of joy to be passed to me, but instead I watched panic spread over the doctor’s faces.”

Amber says she then heard a noise and doctors looked down to find Olly under a sheet. “I wondered if it was the drugs I was on and I was imagining it- not only was I cut open unnecessarily, but my poor baby was under a sheet alone.”

Amber, who is already mum to Kayden (6), Harvey (4) and Jessica (2) says she believes she should have listened to her body and is left angry and confused by the situation.

“I didn’t even receive an apology. The doctor just explained that my baby had already begun his descent down the birth canal when they cut me open and it was an odd situation. I now have a visible scar that wasn’t needed, and I’m still recovering from my c-section.”

Monique Bowley and Becc Judd discuss the difference between public and private healthcare when it comes to pregnancy and birth with an obstetrician (post continues after audio).

Leicester Hospital has released a statement to the Daily Mail regarding the incident.

“The decision to carry out an emergency c-section is never taken lightly, but we thought it was for the best in this case.” said Elaine Broughton, Head of Midwifery. “We’re looking at the chain of events in detail and will share our findings with the parents. We’re sorry that this happened but glad mum and baby are doing well.”

Due to his prematurity, Olly needed to remain in hospital for a further five weeks but has since been discharged and is fit and healthy.