At 42, Gemma Williams was insecure about the ‘saggy pouches’ of skin on her stomach, which she’d had since the births of her three children.
Since they were all now in their teens or early twenties, Gemma, armed with £9,500, booked herself in for an abdominoplasty — otherwise known as a tummy tuck.
But In an unexpected turn of events, the mum-of-three underwent the invasive surgery only to later find out she was four weeks pregnant with her fourth child.
She even took 10 supermarket tests to make sure it wasn’t a false positive. ‘I kept staring at the tests in disbelief,’ she says.
As a newly qualified nurse, Gemma had decided to treat herself to a tummy tuck in August 2024.
The procedure flattens and tightens the abdomen by removing excess skin and fat, and repairing weakened abdominal muscles.
According the NHS, there’s an increased risk of miscarriage in patients who have had an anaesthetic and surgery during pregnancy, so it’s standard procedure to do a pregnancy test prior to the operation.
Medics took a urine sample to check for pregnancy and any other health concerns, but Gemma says nothing was detected.
After undergoing the four-hour procedure, the then mum-of-three spent a day at the clinic before returning home on, where she continued to recover.
However, she quickly noticed something didn’t feel right.
‘I felt nauseous and bloated but I put it down to the tummy tuck,’ Gemma says, ‘as did the clinic when I contacted them about it.’
But, by December 2024, four months post-procedure, Gemma’s discomfort hadn’t gone away, and a fellow nurse at Singleton Hospital, where she works, suggested she might be pregnant.
‘I hadn’t been on contraception for three years, so when my friend suggested that I do a urine test, I thought at least I could rule it out,’ Gemma says.
She immediately took a test and quickly saw a positive test result staring back at her. ‘I was beyond shocked,’ she adds.
‘I took 10 other supermarket pregnancy tests – all confirmed I was pregnant.
‘It’s very likely the urine sample I took before my tummy tuck didn’t pick up on the pregnancy because my HCG levels (used to confirm pregnancy) were too low. At the beginning of pregnancy, they typically rise,’ she adds.
Gemma says that the thought that she’d been under anaesthetic while pregnant made her ‘heart drop’, but an ultrasound the next day confirmed she was indeed 21 weeks pregnant, and everything was fine.
‘I had conversations about my options, but I knew in my heart that I wanted another baby,’ she explains.
Gemma had had her three older children, 14, 17, and 20, with an ex partner, and hadn’t planned on having more kids.
In May 2025, she gave birth to her healthy baby boy, weighing 7lbs 10oz, on May 2, 2025, although she is no longer with the father.
‘Thankfully, my baby is happy and healthy,’ she says. ‘It’s definitely a story for the book – I don’t think I’ll ever be as shocked again in my life.
‘I never expected to have another child, let alone not know for 21 weeks. Looking back, I can’t believe it.’
She might’ve had three kids, but that didn’t make motherhood any easier the fourth time around.
‘It’s been turbulent,’ she admits. ‘He had a good set of lungs on him in the early days.
‘But I’m grateful – my baby boy is adorable. He’s getting his little personality and has started to laugh and smile.’
Despite the fourth pregnancy, Gemma’s nearly £10,000 expense didn’t go to waste, with the tummy tuck causing her to drop from a size 16 to a size 12.
‘Little did I know that I wouldn’t just be dropping a few dress sizes but gaining another little one to my brood,’ Gemma laughs.