When Michelle Townsend's baby was born at just 26 weeks and three days, it was two long, terrifying days before she was able to see her precious daughter. Audrey had been born just four hours after Michelle had gone into hospital for what she thought would be a routine check.
But the Cardiff mum, who put feeling unwell down to being pregnant but thought she should get it checked, had severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, and her baby daughter had to be born immediately. HELLP syndrome is a rare liver and blood clotting disorder that can affect pregnant women. It's most likely to occur immediately after the baby is delivered, but can appear any time after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and in rare cases before 20 weeks.
It was a terrifying time for Michelle and her husband Jeremy, especially as they had had five attempts at IVF, and had got pregnant with their final embryo.
