I gave birth at 16 just ten hours after discovering I was pregnant – I thought labour was tummy cramps after house party
Verity McConnell, from Aberdeen, was enjoying a regular Saturday night at a school friend's birthday party before her life quickly changed.
Once home, she started to experience severe stomach cramps and, believed it was her period or a tummyache.
She tried to sleep it off - but the pain kept intensifying and she was forced to wake her mum for help.
She said: 'It just didn't feel right, just like something was off and then I started getting really bad stomach cramps.
'Every time I kept trying to go to sleep I couldn't, like it was so sore.
'At this point we're all probably just like 'oh no, it's nothing'.'
After the pain intensified throughout the night, Verity's mum rushed her to the local maternity hospital after a call with NHS 24.
Unaware of what was happening, Verity then faced the life-changing news that she was almost 38 weeks pregnant and already in labour.
Still in complete shock, the teenager gave birth to a healthy 7lb 7oz baby girl the next morning at 10:30am - despite having regular periods throughout her pregnancy.
With no preparation for motherhood, the hospital provided everything - from clothing to nappies - to help care for the newborn.
Now a mum-of-three at 27, Verity reflected on her birth story as her daughter, Mhairi, is now almost 11.
She added: 'I'm lying there. I'm 16, I'm terrified and she [the nurse] looks at me and looks at my mum and she goes, there is definitely a baby in there and you are going to have it very soon.
"I had no bump, I could still fit in all my clothes. I'd been to T in The Park, I'd been on holidays, I'd been on water slides.
'I've had no scans, I've had no tests, I've had no midwife appointments, I've had no checks, nothing."
She added: 'I think because everything was like such a rush and I was basically just running on pure adrenaline, I managed to give birth.
'She was 7lb 7oz so she wasn't even that small and I did all with just gas and air and pure adrenaline.
'I didn't have anything for this baby, not a single thing.
'My baby had to wear clothes that were donated to the hospital and nappies from the hospital.'
Her shock birth story quickly went viral on TikTok, racking up more than 100,000 views across her videos.
And it turns out she's not alone with her surprise pregnancy.
Someone else wrote: "My mum had a cryptic pregnancy with me 26 years ago, didn't know until she went into labour."
"I gave birth at 19 an hour and a half after finding out I was pregnant", another person chimed in.
Meanwhile, a third added: "The exact same thing happened to me -your story is my story! I had a beautiful baby girl who is now 22! I was 18 years old."
Verity later revealed that hospital staff inspired her to become a nurse.
The determined mum returned to school to study for her highers when baby Mhairi was four-months-old.
She said: "They [hospital staff] genuinely inspired me to take the path in life that I did.
"They made it such a nice experience even though it was genuinely the most terrifying thing ever."
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