A young Scots mum was diagnosed with a rare lung condition after being left so breathless she was unable to carry her newborn daughter.
Ella Mercer discovered she was expecting in May 2020 just as the country had been thrown into a national lockdown.
The 27-year-old, from Edinburgh, told how she had a perfectly normal pregnancy and had planned for a home birth to ensure partner Rob could be there.
But after going into labour on January 5, 2021, the PHD researcher’s labour failed to progress and she was admitted to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
At 5am, the baby's heart rate was reducing in speed and Ella became breathless and unwell, losing lots of blood, Edinburgh Live reports.
Newborn Rosie was taken away for oxygen while the hero nurse team worked on the new mum who medics feared was suffering from sepsis.
After eventually returning home, Ella continued to feel breathless and after numerous tests was eventually diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis - inflammation of the lungs.
She explained: “So the first few weeks I was totally in that newborn bubble. We were in total lockdown at that point so it was just the three of us.
"I was on high dose antibiotics for three weeks to continue treating sepsis so we weren't too concerned by me being totally wiped out and exhausted at that point - I was still recovering. “However, I continued to feel breathless.
“We mentioned it at my six-week postpartum check and said that if I was the same in a few weeks to call back and have some blood tests, which I did.
“My blood tests and physical exam of my chest were all clear so I was told to watch and wait.
"By March my breathlessness was worse and my oxygen levels were dropping down to 90 percent if I walked up the stairs.
“I remember so vividly not being able to rock Rosie and sing to her without having to catch my breath so I went back to the GP and they referred me to the Western General day clinic - again, blood tests and x-rays showed nothing.
"To be totally honest, I'd become pretty disheartened by that point and was worried I was wasting medical professional's time so I just left it.
“But the breathlessness just continued to get worse and worse.
"I had to call Rob to carry Rosie upstairs because I couldn't do it safely anymore - just walking up the stairs made my vision blurry and made me feel close to fainting.
"I struggled to breathe even sitting down and my oxygen levels at rest were 88 percent whilst if I got up to do anything they were down to 82-84 percent.
“At the start of May my mum came up to visit and immediately told me to call the GP again.
"I called and asked for steroids to see whether they might have helped but he said there was no way he was prescribing anything and to go up to A&E at the ERI.
“When I arrived I was put on oxygen but my oxygen levels weren't going up so they admitted me for further investigations.
"I explained to them that I was breastfeeding Rosie who was four months old at the time- it was also my first time being away from her lockdown and everything, so they arranged for me to be put in a side room so she could stay with me.
"The first night she slept in her pram next to my bed but the next morning two porters came in with a children's cot from the sick kids hospital as well as a small crib from maternity.
"They were the first of our many visitors.
“Lots of nurses and other healthcare professionals came in to see us that morning and told me how they'd been told at handover that there was a four month old baby on the ward and they were all so excited because they just never got to see children, working on the adult ward.
“They cooed over her and played with her and it was such a relief.
"The following days my oxygen levels still didn't come up despite being on oxygen 24 hours a day and I remember lying with Rosie at night wondering whether I was going to miss out on her life such as her starting school and going to birthday parties.
"Tests finally revealed huge inflammation in my lungs and a diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis - a rare disorder where my immune system attacked my lungs in response to an allergen - in my case, it was feathers from the pet cockatiels I'd had for 13 years."
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) happens if your lungs develop an immune response - hypersensitivity - to something you breathe in which results in inflammation of the lung tissue - pneumonitis, in this case the changes brought on from the mum going through labour.
Ella continued: "The consultant said it was likely that the changes caused by labour and sepsis triggered my immune system to overreact.
“I was placed on high dose steroids and my oxygen finally started to normalise and I could finally breathe again. I'd honestly forgotten what it felt like to breathe.
"I vowed then that I would never take another breath for granted again.
“We had to rehome our pets which was heartbreaking, as I'd had them for half of my life, and my mum and Rob had to deep clean our home and throw away all of our things as any exposure would jeopardise my recovery.
"I couldn't go home for a week after I was discharged whilst they made our home safe.
“It was a really hard time for both of them, arguably it was worse for them than me, especially given how poorly I was during labour too.
"I was on steroids for three months altogether and my follow up tests showed an outstanding improvement in my lung function, although it's not quite where my consultant would hope it to be yet.
"My treatment team can't believe the recovery I've made though - most people don't get better from this - I am so lucky.
“The physiologist doing my tests actually told me last time that I was used as a case study because my case and recovery was so remarkable.
"The health professionals on ward 204 gave me my life back. I'm a 27-year-old new mum and you just never imagine you'd be in that position.
“The staff cared for me so well but they went above and beyond with their care for Rosie.
"Despite me being unwell, all I wanted was for her to be ok and they did everything they could to help me make sure that was the case.
"I signed up for the half marathon in November to raise money for the ward through the Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation. It's just a tiny something I can do to say thank you. I will never be able to thank them enough.”
To donate to Ella's fundraising efforts, please click here.
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