A mum who had to be "shaken back to life" after her heart stopped during labour is now terrified she could die at any moment.
Michelle Brooks, 27, was pregnant with her fifth child when she started to develop chest pains - but after reporting it to her midwife she was told it was probably heartburn.
However, when she woke up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe and vomiting, her mum Debbie knew something was seriously wrong.
Michelle, from Hastings, recalls being driven to hospital by her mum while screaming from the "excruciating pain" she was in, which spread around her entire body.
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When she arrived at Conquest Hospital, doctors thought the mum-of-five had pre-eclampsia and told her they needed to deliver the baby immediately.
But after giving her medication to induce labour, disaster struck.
Michelle said: "Minutes into labour my heart stopped beating. I officially died for a few minutes, and I had to be brought back to life."
While doctors desperately tried to deliver Michelle's daughter, Honey, safely, they were also frantically trying to shake the young mum back to consciousness.
But when they struggled to stabilise Michelle, doctors opted to perform an emergency C-section.
Luckily, baby Honey was delivered safely on 18 September 2021 weighing 5lbs.
Michelle said: “I don’t remember anything from the birth. I felt like I was going to die - I was just holding on for the baby.
“Doctors had to keep shaking me and touching me to keep me alive. All I remember is the excruciating pain I felt from head to toe.
“It was ten times more painful than labour."
At first, doctors were baffled at what had caused Michelle's heart to stop, but after she'd spent a week in hospital they told her she was suffering from a rare syndrome called hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets (HELLP).
HELLP attacks the liver and causes blood clots, and it's fatal for 25% of women who suffer from it. However, after the expectant mum gives birth, the risk tends to decrease.
However, Michelle says she's still at risk of having a deadly fit at any moment - and she's terrified for her life.
She said: ''I feel like I’m living as a ticking time bomb. The condition has no symptoms after I have given birth so I could die at any point.
“I’m under close observation and my blood pressure is slowly going down which is good news."
She added there is no medication for the condition, which is dubbed "the silent killer."
While Michelle is on bed rest, her partner Perry, 27, is looking after baby Honey and their other kids, eight-year-old Bridget, five-year-old Mia, four-year-old Rhys, and one-year-old Jack.
Michelle said: “It was terrifying and came out of nowhere and now I’m living while constantly fearing death.
“It’s giving me dreadful anxiety that I could just drop down dead at any moment."
Looking back, Michelle says she never would have thought that chest pains during pregnancy could be something so serious - and she wants other pregnant women to know the risks.
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She said: "Slowly but surely I'm getting back on my feet.
"I have good days and bad days but overall, I'm doing better and hopeful for the future."
