Cryptic pregnancy: ‘I had 4 weeks to get my life together’

Four weeks and four days after being told she was expecting, Tawana gave birth to River after having her baby shower.

She says she struggled afterwards with post-natal depression, and looked to TikTok to find advice on becoming a young mum at such short notice.

But she says she didn’t find anyone else, apart from one woman in the US who had been through similar.

“I went through a really deep depression because it was like, no one’s giving me any advice.

“No one’s speaking about this. Like, what is it like? And then I think I’ve seen like one video, which had like 100 views from a girl in America speaking about it.

“And she’s literally like the only one that advised me.”

Tawana later decided to share her unique experience online, in a video which has since been liked almost 400,000 times.

She’s also started a podcast, speaking to other mums.

Tawana says she’s shared her story and hopes it can generate more support for young mothers who find out they’re pregnant at the last minute.

She feels she was lucky enough to have financial help from her mum, but she knows that others might not be as fortunate.

Ideally, she’d like a charity to be set up.

“There’s no help, so if that is something that has happened to you, how are you coping?”