'I became a mum in 15 minutes': Kayla had no idea she was pregnant until she was in labour

W?hen Kayla Simpson went to the hospital with abdominal pain she and her mum thought it was a case of appendicitis.

However, after just 15 minutes she says her "life changed forever" after she surprisingly gave birth to her daughter Madi.

The 22-year-old from Indiana in the US welcomed her little girl without any clue that she was pregnant, experiencing a cryptic pregnancy.

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Simpson, who has over 240,000 followers on TikTok, posted a video explaining her story as a way of answering the questions she is continuously asked online about the surprising way she became a mother.

The mum starts the video by explaining the day it all happened in November, 2021 when she was 20-years-old.

"I was in so much pain. I was curled up in a ball and couldn't get off the toilet," she recalls.

Simpson and her mum were very worried about how quickly the pain was escalating, thinking it may have been a bout of bad period cramps. ?

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"We knew it was serious when I couldn't walk down the stairs."

Shortly after Simson's mum took her to the local hospital emergency room where doctors rushed her to get an ultrasounds to see what was going on.

This was the first time they were all introduced to little Madi. ?

"My mum saw something familiar, which seemed to be little feet," she recalled.

Though there wasn't much time to process as at that moment Simpson let out a huge scream and the doctors realised she was crowning.

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?"I was then rushed upstairs to labour and delivery where in 15 minutes I had my beautiful little daughter."

Madi was born weighing ?3.12 kg and measuring 48.26 cm long.

"[She] was a completely healthy baby. No medical problems whatsoever," Simson explained as she said she had no idea she was pregnant.

"Throughout my so-called pregnancy I had lost 13 kg, was the flattest I had ever been and had my period every month."

Following her wild entry into the world, Simpson says she and Madi were lucky to have the support of her friends and family to allow her to take care of her new baby.

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"I came home to a fully prepped house. [My parents] even turned an extra room into Madi's old bedroom," she explained.

Friends and family also helped by dropping off extra nappies and supplies and even threw her a post-baby shower. ?

And while the new mum says she was completely shocked at the arrival of Madi, she was lucky enough to not experience any post-natal mental health issues following the cryptic pregnancy.

"No one will understand the emotions I went through in that hospital room," she revealed to followers.

"I am now the happiest I've ever been and know that I was meant to be a mum.? Within those 15 minutes my life changed forever and now I can say for the better."

She says ?Madi who is now 18 months old and is her 'best friend', "pulled the biggest prank she will ever pull in her life."

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Simpson's story has shocked other parents online, with her video reaching over 8.5 million people.

"You never felt her moving? This is so crazy! But I've heard of this many times. She's beautiful," one person commented.

Another said, "I would be like 'I don't know where you came from, but I love you!?'"

While another commented: "New fear unlocked."?

What is a cryptic pregnancy?

Cryptic pregnancy includes any pregnancy discovered after 20 weeks of gestation and in extreme cases like Kayla's, women may not discover they're pregnant until labour begins or they give birth.

It's estimated that about one in every 400 deliveries in Australia fall into the category, however studies show that only one in 2,500 pregnancies was discovered during labour.

Symptoms and experiences can vary widely from one woman to the next and even pregnancy tests may produce a false negative early on?. Many people who experience a cryptic pregnancy don't have a regular menstrual cycle, so don't notice a missed period, or mistakenly attribute pregnancy symptoms to other ailments.

For example, morning sickness may be mistaken for a bout of gastro, while foetal movement and baby kicks could be misinterpreted as indigestion or stomach cramps.

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