by Mom ᴅɪᴇᴅ For Eight Minutes While Giving Birth After Suffering ʜᴏʀʀᴇɴᴅᴏᴜs ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴘɪᴅᴜʀᴀʟ
Mum Chloe Holbrook, 22, from Milton Keynes, has told how she ᴅɪᴇᴅ for eight minutes while giving birth and had to be put into an induced ᴄᴏᴍᴀ, while her son Hugo had to be ʀᴇsᴜsᴄɪᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ. A mum nearly ᴅɪᴇᴅ giving birth after suffering a rare ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ to her ᴇᴘɪᴅᴜʀᴀʟ which stopped her heart and left her in an induced ᴄᴏᴍᴀ. 
Chloe Holbrook, 22, ᴄᴏʟʟᴀᴘsᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅɪᴇᴅ for eight minutes after doctors injected just a small amount of the ᴅʀᴜɢ into her system. Her partner Reece, 24, looked on in ʜᴏʀʀᴏʀ as she fell unconscious and was whisked away for an ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ to deliver their son, called Hugo. Miraculously, mum and baby have made a full recovery from the horrifying ordeal – and now Chloe is keen to speak about what happened.
Talking to the Mirror, Chloe said: “I can’t fault the NHS at all and will be forever grateful to them for sᴀᴠɪɴɢ me and my baby boy. I woke up from the ᴄᴏᴍᴀ completely disorientated and with no memory, all because I had no clue about the risk that the ᴇᴘɪᴅᴜʀᴀʟ carried.”
Chloe was admitted to Milton Keynes Central Hospital at 38 weeks and two days pregnant on December 14 last year, as doctors were set to induce her. She was moved up to the labour ward the next day, where her ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs started. Everything was fine – until she agreed to have the ᴇᴘɪᴅᴜʀᴀʟ, a ᴘᴀɪɴ-ʀᴇʟɪᴇᴠɪɴɢ ɪɴᴊᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ that is often given to women in childbirth.
Chloe initially developed a headache as her ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴘʀᴇssᴜʀᴇ ᴘʟᴜɴɢᴇᴅ, before going into cardiac arrest. Quicking thinking NHS staff performed five minutes of chest compressions and then carried out a C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ in a bid to save Hugo’s life. The tot was born lifeless but recovered in seconds, while Chloe was injected with adrenaline.
Recalling the ʜᴏʀʀɪfɪᴄ moment, dad Reece said: “I had hold of Chloe’s hands while they delivered the ᴇᴘɪᴅᴜʀᴀʟ. Within 10 or 20 seconds, she said she had a headache and we laid her down on the bed. Her eyes started going funny and then she just went out of it. I was calling her name and she wasn’t responding.”
Reece watched on in ᴘᴀɴɪᴄ as staff delivered CPR and put an oxygen mask on Chloe before they decided to carry out the C-sᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. She was then placed in an induced ᴄᴏᴍᴀ for 10 hours and given ᴀssɪsᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜᴇ – and only met her son for the first time when she awoke. At around 11 am the next day, Reece visited his partner but she wasn’t conscious, before finally waking up a few hours later.
Incredibly, she left the hospital six days later on Sunday, December 19 – seven days before she was actually meant to give birth. Thoughtful Chloe brought flowers as a gift for the midwives who ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴇᴅ her, alongside staff who gave her CPR. The thankful mum says she was told the rare ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ she experienced affects about one in every 10,000 women.
She said: “The key thing was that I wasn’t sᴛᴀʀᴠᴇᴅ ᴏF ᴏxʏɢᴇɴ. That’s why I’m not ʙʀᴀɪɴ-ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅ. Although I wasn’t breathing it myself, they were pumping it around my body. I am here as I was before because they did that. My family were ᴛᴇʀʀɪfɪᴇᴅ I might not be the same person as I was before.”
But now she’s enjoying life with cheeky Hugo, who is two months old and thriving. And she isn’t put off having another child after doctors reassured her she’s highly unlikely to suffer the ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ again.
