Charlotte Summers, 20, gave birth less than a day after finding out she was pregnant – and has spoken of the dramatic moment she discovered she was about to be a mum
A stunned mum has told how gave birth just 17 hours after finding out she was pregnant.
Charlotte Summers experienced what is known as a ‘cryptic pregnancy’, a rare condition in which a woman is unaware she is carrying a baby until very late on, or even until delivery. In her case, she received a positive pregnancy test and gave birth less than a day apart. In the months before giving birth to her healthy son in June, the 20-year-old from Australia said she noticed she had gained weight and gone up two sizes in jeans, but put the changes down to stress.
She explained in a TikTok video: “I was still buying size eight clothes. Obviously, I gained a bit of a pudge, I guess. But I am in a two-and-a-half year relationship, I just kind of assumed it was a bit of happy relationship weight. I was also going through a lot of stressful things in my life at the time.”
When she visited a GP on June 6 with concerns about gluten sensitivity, she was asked to do a pregnancy test. Just minutes later, the doctor told her she was pregnant – but reassured her it appeared “very early along”.
She was told to come back later to discuss her options, and her boyfriend’s family helped arrange a same-day ultrasound at their local hospital. There, she was told she was “measuring 38 weeks and four days” – news that nobody was expecting.
Describing her reaction, she said: “I kind of blacked out. I just grabbed my stuff, rang my partner and I was like, ‘Hey, we gotta go’.”
Charlotte made a quick exit from the hospital, but doctors tried to contact her as they found there was no fluid around the baby, meaning they would have to induce labour. The hospital however didn’t have her phone number, and ended up getting in touch by ringing her partner’s cousin.
Ms Summers and her partner returned to hospital the same evening, but the surreal experience – discovering she was pregnant and giving birth just hours later – left her panicked and confused.
She said: “I was on my hands and knees throwing up because I was like ‘there’s no way this is happening right now'”.
A short time later, her water broke and she entered labour for two hours, giving birth to a healthy boy. “I pushed for seven minutes and then my son was here. Again, I blacked out. I didn’t really comprehend what was going on,” she said.
Charlotte believes the pregnancy went unnoticed because the placenta sat at the front of her womb. Other than the weight gain, there were practically no signs of any change in her body.
Ms Summers had also continued her regular use of birth control and experienced what appeared to be menstruation during the pregnancy.
While some have accused her of lying after she shared her story, Charlotte showed hospital documents from Queensland Health diagnosing a ‘concealed pregnancy’, and records confirming her ultrasound and delivery.
Though she did not expect to be a mum so soon, the 20-year-old ended the video by saying she is “happy” and “healthy” – and admitted that her and her partner “love being parents”.