Mum says childbirth left her unable to feel pain, even broken bones and burns

A mum says giving birth to her son has left her incapable of feeling pain.

Emily Madeley, 24, had a standard pain threshold prior to giving birth to her son Alfie in 2015.

Even when she went into labour, she reported not experiencing much pain. When the labour process began in November 2015, she had no clue it was happening.

The next morning, Emily was scheduled to be induced at her hospital and when she arrived, nurses were surprised to discover she was already 8cm dilated.

Medics were then shocked as she lay munching a tube of Pringles in between pushes as she gave birth to baby Alfie.

After the pain-free labour, where she didn’t even realise she was having contractions, Emily says she no longer feels any pain.

The mum, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, has even broken bones and badly burned herself without noticing.

Emily explained: ‘I’ve never been to the doctors to find out why I felt no pain. Before I had Alfie I would stub my toe and be in so much pain — so it’s strange.’

She is terrified of having another child in case another labour reverses the unusual condition.

Emily added: ‘I was absolutely dreading labour and giving birth whilst I was pregnant – it’s so scary when it’s your first so I would worry about it all the time but it was nothing like what I expected.

‘It was quite relaxing – I just ate Pringles and watched some TV and he was out before I knew it.’

Emily’s family fears that she may not know if she has really hurt herself in the future and want her to get a diagnosis from the doctors. But she isn’t the only mum to not report any pain during labour.

In fact, one in 100 women have a gene which acts as a natural epidural and stops them feeling the same level of pain, according to new research.

The study was a collaboration between clinicians and scientists based at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, part of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), and the University of Cambridge.

They found some mums had a higher-than-expected prevalence of a rare variant of the gene KCNG4. This gene helps to produce a protein that controls the electrical signal that flows along our nerve cells.

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