A student who didn’t know she was pregnant gave birth in a toilet after rushing to A&E with what she thought was constipation.
Lalene Malik had no clue she was pregnant when she began suffering from an excruciating stomach ache at her home in Greenford, west London, on March 26.
The 23-year-old had been prescribed the contraceptive pill and taken two negative pregnancy tests in February as well.
She decided she must have been constipated and was rushed to hospital in agony.
Her mother, Sumra, had an “intuition” that something was wrong with her daughter and sounded the alarm for nearby doctors.
When on the toilet, she began crying out in pain, and almost flushed before her son’s arm was spotted in the bowl.
Lalene said: "I was gone. My mind was blank. I was put in another room because obviously I was crying and my mum was crying.
“It was a complete shock and a trauma for both of us and I felt that my life was in danger.
"(My mum) started crying and (said) to me: 'Don't you know you have a baby?' From then on I was pale."
She was left terrified that her and her son’s lives were both in danger and said she thinks the baby might have been stuck there for up to seven minutes before medics rescued him.
Doctors were able to retrieve baby Mohammed Ibrahim from the toilet but said he “looked lifeless” and wasn’t breathing.
Dr Ewa Grocholski helped save Ibrahim got the baby out of the toilet bowl before giving him chest compressions and successfully resuscitating him.
She said it was the "most amazing experience of (her) medical career."
She added: "Luckily we caught it in time.
"I've never seen (a baby be born) in such circumstances. I've seen young ladies like Lalene before coming to A&E not knowing they're pregnant and delivering in the A&E department, but it was always in a more safe place.
“It was on a bed or it was slower, so we would have noticed they were giving birth before it was happening."
She called Lalene a “hero” and said it was “incredible” she had gone through labour despite not even knowing she was being pregnant.
Ibrahim was born full-term and is now healthy after he was given oxygen and monitored carefully by hospital staff.
Ms Malik has described her son as a "miracle" baby but accused her family doctor, Elm Trees surgery in Greenford, of failing to carry out tests properly which could have revealed she was pregnant.
She said: "If I had known I was pregnant, I would have cherished those moments going shopping, getting stuff ready for the baby."
Her husband was abroad at the time and in "complete shock" when he learned of the birth, Ms Malik added.
The student, who is taking a masters in international relations at Roehampton University, said she had not been planning on having a child and had taken the pill from October to January after it was prescribed by a doctor.
She said she returned to her GP a number of times after experiencing symptoms including weight gain and a shortness of breath, and had stopped taking the contraception.
Ms Malik said she was given a blood test at the surgery in March but later told it had been botched and the results were unavailable.
"I called back three days later and they said 'oh, we can't detect anything because the one who took the blood test didn't shake (it) properly, so come back three to six months later'," she said.
Lalene added: "It's a blessing and I'm happy for the baby, but honestly the surgery should have said something because I told them I was married and I wanted to progress with my masters."
She said she is determined to complete her university course but has had to defer until July to look after little Ibrahim.
The Elm Trees surgery has said Ms Malik's experience falls below its expected standards of care and the matter will be investigated.
The practice said in a statement: "We are very sorry to learn of Ms Malik's experience, this falls below the standards of care we expect from our services. Please be assured that this matter will be fully investigated."
