Woman who thought she needed 'massive poo' ended up giving birth in street

A British woman got the shock of her life when her severe stomach pains turned out to be a newborn baby.

When Katie Brown woke up one morning experiencing what she believed were severe period pains, she had no idea that her life was about to change completely.

The 27-year-old took paracetamol hoping it would settle the symptoms, but soon realised she couldn't sit down.

With the pain becoming increasingly unbearable, Katie decided to go to hospital – only to end up giving birth on the street.

"I woke up and thought I'm having period pains," Katie recalled during an interview on This Morning. "So I went and got some paracetamol, and then I couldn't sit down."

By 7am, Katie was in unbearable pain and asked her mother for advice, still unaware that her pains were contractions.

"It got to about seven o'clock, and I thought, 'I can't do this anymore, I'm going to have to go to A&E'. So, I told my mum, and then my mum came in and thought it was appendicitis," she continued.

Katie then called for an ambulance, which arrived around two-and-a-half hours later.

When the paramedics walked Katie out onto the street and towards the ambulance, she suddenly 'dropped to her hands and knees', and out came baby William.

Already a mum, Katie had no idea she was about to give birth to her second child (ITV)

While Katie was still unaware that she was giving birth, telling hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond, 'I genuinely thought I was just having a massive poo', her mother Diane realised what was happening and was able to catch her grandson's head.

"I could see something coming out, the shape," recalled Diane, adding: "So I went down on my knees behind her and [caught him]."

Doctors would later reveal that Katie had experienced a rare phenomenon known as a cryptic - or stealth - pregnancy.

Cryptic pregnancies account for one in every 2,500 births (ITV)

What are cryptic pregnancies – and why do they happen?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a cryptic pregnancy refers to a pregnancy where the mother either doesn't experience typical pregnancy symptoms, has a negative test result or has irregular periods.

Cryptic pregnancies are thought to occur in one in every 2,500 pregnancies, which equates to around 300 births a year in the UK. Women who have PCOS, have recently given birth, are in perimenopause or are using birth control may be at higher risk.

Cryptic pregnancy symptoms

Symptoms often linked to cryptic pregnancy resemble those of a typical pregnancy, such as nausea, tiredness, and tender breasts, Pampers states.

"In any pregnancy, an individual might not notice any distinct early signs of pregnancy; in cryptic pregnancies, these symptoms might be missing or extremely subtle, often overlooked for a considerable duration," the site adds.

In Katie's case, the regular 'periods' she believed she was having were actually a side effect of the combined oral contraceptive pill.

"Every time she [seven-day] pill-free window, she had a withdrawal bleed," explained This Morning's Dr Zoe.

Dr Zoe went on to explain that the position of baby William inside Katie's womb meant that she did not develop a baby bump, while his movements were mistaken for sciatica after he was kicking a nerve in her back.

"This can really happen," Dr Zoe added. "Katie is the perfect example of somebody [where] the body just didn't give those clues."