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Woman didn't know she was pregnant until having baby on the bathroom floor

Stacey Porter and David were shocked when Stacey gave birth to Sophia.
Stacey and David were shocked when Stacey gave birth to Sophia [Photo: Supplied/Stacey Porter]

A woman who didn't know she was pregnant got the shock of her life when she delivered her baby alone on her bathroom floor.

Stacey Porter, 20, had gone to bed with a stomach ache, and it wasn’t until she felt her baby’s head coming that she realised she was about to give birth.

“I was unaware it was labour,” Stacey, from Glasgow, told Yahoo UK.

“I had to take a seat on the bathroom floor as my pain was that bad and after a few moans and groans her head started to come out.”

Despite some heartburn when she was in Thailand over the Christmas and new year period, Stacey had no symptoms of pregnancy at all and had been getting regular periods.

She had even been taking birth control pills.

“I put [the heartburn] down to the amount of spicy food we had been consuming and the wine and different Thai beers,” she explains.

And when her partner, David Johnston, 26, also claimed to be experiencing heartburn, she didn’t think anything of it.

Stacey, David and Sophiea are now adjusting to life as a family of three
The couple are now adjusting to life as a family of three [Photo: Supplied/Stacey Porter]
Sophie and david were surprised by the birth of sophia.
Little Sophia was delivered by her mum in the bathroom [Photo: Supplied/Stacey Porter]

On the night she gave birth to her unexpected baby, Stacey had been picked up from work by David after complaining about feeling unwell.

The couple went back to David’s family home - where they were house-sitting while his parents were on holiday.

Though she was suffering from a stomach ache, Stacey didn't want to go to hospital, so David decided to sleep on the couch to get some rest before work.

Just after 4am the "agonising pain" in her stomach became so bad that Stacey had to sit down on the bathroom floor.

Having realised what was happening she tried to ring David downstairs, but he didn’t answer.

Little Sophia made her unexpected entrance into the world on Friday 10 May at 4.14am weighing 7lb 13oz (3.54kg).

Stacey Porter had no idea she was pregnant before giving birth to her baby in the bathroom
Stacey Porter had no idea she was pregnant before giving birth to her baby in the bathroom [Photo: Supplied/Stacey Porter]

Shortly afterwards David woke up and called an ambulance, taking Stacey and the newborn to Forth Valley Royal Hospital for checks.

"I just stood there, staring at Stacey and Sophia. I put my head in my hands and I was just like 'Stacey, that's a baby',” he told Radio Scotland.

The couple decided to name their surprise daughter Sophia Grace Johnston.

“As soon as I saw her I thought she would suit Sophia,” Stacey tells Yahoo UK. “I hadn’t ever considered baby names before as a baby isn’t something I had planned or would have been planning for a good few years.”

Despite Sophia’s unexpected arrival, the couple say they wouldn’t change their unusual journey to parenthood.

“She’s so perfect, content and just our little miracle,” Stacey says, adding they are now adjusting to becoming an overnight family of three.

“It’s still a complete shock,” she says.“Sometimes we find each other walking by her just staring at her for a good five minutes.

“We are both still learning but it’s definitely not something we would change for the world.”

It might sound unbelievable to go a full nine months without realising that you’re pregnant but cryptic pregnancies, as they are known, are actually more common than you might think.

According to the BMJ, cryptic pregnancies are estimated to occur in around one in 2,500 cases, suggesting that for around 320 women this is their reality.

With so many typical indicators of pregnancy, it may be difficult to understand, but according to experts it does happen.

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