Destiny Stephens-Coull, an 18-year-old university student and part-time Nando’s employee, faced a life-changing surprise when she went into labor during a shift, not knowing she was six months pregnant. On April 13, 2022, what Destiny believed to be menstrual cramps turned out to be the early stages of labor, resulting in the emergency birth of her son Kingsley.
The ordeal began during a routine workday in Essex, when Destiny experienced heavy bleeding and severe pain, which she initially mistook for her period coming early. After more than an hour in the restaurant’s bathroom dealing with what she described as bleeding that “came out like a tap,” she was rushed to Basildon Hospital, she was told. Bristol live.
There, to her surprise, a scan revealed that she was not only pregnant but required an immediate cesarean section due to her advanced stage of pregnancy and the baby’s distress. Upon awakening from general anesthesia, Destiny met her newborn son, Kingsley, who weighed just 3lb 1oz and was born 10 weeks premature. Reflecting on that moment, Destiny shared, “When I first saw Kingsley, I didn’t feel like a mother; he was adorable, but I felt like I was given a random baby to take care of.”
However, her maternal instinct kicked in shortly after, when she fed him for the first time and realized: “I knew he was mine.” The young mother recounted the shock and confusion at the hospital, remembering that she had been out partying just the weekend before and showed no physical signs of pregnancy. “I was really scared. She had been partying and drinking, danced a lot and had a flat stomach.
“I thought there was absolutely no way,” he said. The midwife even had to break the news to her mother, to Destiny’s overwhelming shock and fear. Kingsley’s early days were filled with challenges. She suffered two brain hemorrhages, hydrocephalus and jaundice, requiring prolonged care in the NICU. Doctors had to fit a shunt to monitor her condition, amid concerns about her future ability to walk and talk.
Despite these obstacles, Kingsley is now thriving and achieving developmental milestones that previously seemed out of reach. Destiny, now 21, lives in a mother and baby unit and hopes to find a permanent home for herself and Kingsley soon. Recalling her unexpected journey toward motherhood, she expresses a mix of amazement and joy.
“It’s still strange to think about it,” she admits, recalling her disbelief at stories of cryptic pregnancies before experiencing her own. Now, fully embracing her role as her mother, she concludes: “If someone had told me three years ago that at 21 years old she would have a two-year-old son, I would have told them she was lying. But now I am used to being a mother and I am delighted that it is my son.”