A mother and her newborn narrowly escaped death after a severe placental abruption caused massive hemorrhaging during an emergency delivery. Chloe Jacobs, 39, from Newport on the Isle of Wight, lost over eight litres of blood but survived following intensive medical intervention.
Early Morning Crisis
At 34 weeks pregnant, Chloe woke at 1:30am feeling dizzy and sweating. She fell back asleep but awoke 90 minutes later to heavy bleeding. Fearing for her unborn daughter Pixi, she sat on the toilet while her fiancé, Chris Smallwood, 40, called an ambulance.
The Isle of Wight and Hampshire ambulance service arrived in under five minutes. Chloe arrived at St Mary’s Hospital, where medics confirmed the baby was stable but required immediate delivery.
Emergency Caesarean and Complications
Pixi arrived via caesarean section at 4:51am, weighing 4lbs 12oz. However, Chloe’s placenta had partially separated from her womb, triggering unstoppable bleeding.
Just 20 minutes after birth on March 1, doctors induced a coma to manage the hemorrhage. Chloe received nine litres of blood transfusions, plus platelets and plasma, totaling 17 litres.
Chris witnessed the chaos: “They just couldn’t stop the bleeding. I could hear people running past the door. It was scary.” Medics updated him every 20 minutes, describing the situation as “very serious.” At one point, he was asked to contact Chloe’s mother.
Remarkable Recovery
Pixi spent time in the special care baby unit with breathing support for five hours. Chloe woke after just three-and-a-half hours, far sooner than expected.
Chloe shared: “I’m so lucky and so grateful to be alive. I honestly can never thank the medical team enough. Pixi or I, or both of us, could so easily have died.” She described the blood flow: “It just poured out of me, like a tap. It wouldn’t stop, all through Pixi’s birth.”
Chris added: “We’re so incredibly grateful and lucky to have the NHS. Chloe was very lucky to be alive.”
Chloe left hospital on March 10, with Pixi following on March 20 after her breathing stabilized. Both are now home and thriving, with no organ issues for the baby.
