The moment you give birth and welcome your newborn baby into your life is supposed to be one of the most memorable experiences in your lifetime. The first few moments after giving birth are supposed to be the most magical. Hearing their first cry and holding your baby for the first time, it's part of what makes the birthing process so wonderful.
Unfortunately, for one new mum this wasn't the case.
Bernadette Strange suffered a rare reaction to the epidural she had been given, which resulted in her having to be put into an induced coma.
It was later found that Bernadette had contracted a rare form of meningitis, called streptococcus salivarius, as a result of the reaction.
After responding well to treatment, Bernadette was thankfully brought out of the coma after a few days, and was preparing to meet her baby.
However, doctors quickly realised she has amnesia – she had no memory of even giving birth to her son, Elijah.
According to The Sun, while speaking to charity Meningitis Now, Bernadette explained: "Sometimes I would remember my name, or why I was in hospital; other times I’d be back to square one.
"I was on four hourly IV antibiotics, and was still healing from the C-section.
"No-one knew whether my memory would return."
After being transferred to a dementia ward, Bernadette revealed: "After around 10 days, I was finally making enough progress to be able to see my two-year-old, Theo.
"He seemed massive! My memories suddenly came flooding back, and despite arguing with everyone for the past few days that I had definitely NOT had another baby, when my husband showed me the birth photos on the camera I finally believed him that we had a new baby son.
"I felt like I’d won the lottery! I couldn’t wait to meet him and start bonding."
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