Teenager discovers she is still pregant - three months after she took abortion pill. Now she'll keep the baby

A teenage mother who had an abortion was shocked to discover she was still pregnant three months later. 

Shannon Skinner, 19, had the abortion when she was eight weeks pregnant, having decided it was too soon to have a second child.

But in a rare occurrence, the procedure failed and she continued having morning sickness and feeling movements in her womb.

Doctors told her they were side effects of the abortion, but after three months Ms Skinner and partner Anthony Hunt, 24, convinced medics to take them seriously.

Tests revealed the mother-of-one was pregnant - and her baby daughter had miraculously survived the induced miscarriage.

Scans have since shown that her baby looks physically fine and she is due to be born on May 7.

WHAT IS A MEDICAL ABORTION?

Medical abortion is available to women within the first nine weeks of pregnancy.

It involves taking two sets of pills over two visits to a clinic.

The woman usually experiences discomfort and heavy bleeding after taking the pills.

This normally lasts for a few days until the pregnancy has passed.

The abortion starts within four to five hours of taking the second set of tablets and is usually completed within one to two days.

Some women are not able to have a medical abortion, including those who are over 35 and smoke heavily, those who have a suspected ectopic pregnancy and those with heart disease.

Medical abortions fail to work in about two to three per cent of cases.

A spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service told MailOnline: 'There is a small risk of your pregnancy continuing with early medical abortion. 

'Good follow-up care is important, and any symptoms of ongoing pregnancy should be investigated. 

'The medication used has been associated with an increased risk of birth defects but that does not mean women in this rare situation cannot go on to have a healthy baby, and scans should provide reassurance.'

Source: Marie Stopes

Ms Skinner, who also has a nine-month-old daughter, Lacie, with Mr Hunt, said: ‘We thought she had gone.

‘I had grieved for that baby and we'd just managed to get our heads around it.

‘Anthony and I felt like we'd made the right decision because we were having problems and we didn't think it was right to bring a baby into that.

‘I'd always been one of those people that was against abortions and hated them but I was suffering with post-natal depression.

‘Lacie was just four months old at the time, so I had to do what I thought was best. 

‘But it was not an easy decision and I regretted it straight away after it and even at the time didn't know if I was doing the right thing.’

Ms Skinner, from Bristol, went for a medical abortion - which involves taking a series of tablets - on September 20.

But she returned to her GP after weeks of feeling unwell and she was given a pregnancy test to do at home - it was positive.

When she returned to her doctor another test was negative and she remained unaware she was carrying a baby until December 20 when a third test revealed she was pregnant.

She was told she must have become pregnant again after the abortion, even though she had had a contraceptive implant fitted.

But further tests revealed her baby had survived the abortion.

The couple have been told that survival after a medical abortion occurs in just three per cent of cases.

They are still inside the legal 24-week termination limit but the couple say their baby girl is now too old and has been put through too much.

Ms Skinner, a stay-at-home mother, said: ‘We've now decided to keep the baby, as we don't feel it's right to have an abortion at this stage.

‘She's obviously a little fighter, and we don't want to cause her any more harm.

‘When I had the abortion it didn't feel the same as it does now - we have seen her and her heartbeat.’

Ms Skinner had her latest scan last week where midwives confirmed her baby daughter looked physically fine - but could not rule out future complications.

She said: ‘Everything is OK at the moment, everything is the way it should be.

‘But the consultant couldn't promise it will stay like that when she is older, with her functioning skills.

‘There is nothing to say everything will be hunky-dory, there's no guarantee how it's going to go.’

A midwife at St Michael's Hospital, Bristol, where Ms Skinner is receiving check-ups, is investigating what happened and the couple have complained to Marie Stopes International who carried out the failed abortion.

A spokesperson for the family planning organisation said: ‘Very occasionally, the medical abortion pill can fail.

‘We discuss this with any woman considering the treatment and advise on the necessary follow-up to monitor for a failure, so further treatment may be sought if needed.

‘Cases like this are few and far between but of course that does not make the situation any the less upsetting.’

A spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service told MailOnline: 'There is a small risk of your pregnancy continuing with early medical abortion. 

'Good follow-up care is important, and any symptoms of ongoing pregnancy should be investigated. 

'The medication used has been associated with an increased risk of birth defects but that does not mean women in this rare situation cannot go on to have a healthy baby, and scans should provide reassurance.'