Lauren Goodger feared she was going to die after being rushed to hospital when her baby stopped moving

LAUREN Goodger feared she was going to die from a heart attack after a three day panic attack which started following a last minute hospital check up after she couldn’t feel her baby move.

The pregnant star, 34, was so terrified and anxious about the health of her unborn child that her heart rate shot up.

Lauren rushed to hospital and thankfully her baby was fine – but the combination of her racing blood pressure and hormones caused her to panic.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online, Lauren, who is expecting her first baby with boyfriend Charles Drury, said anything to do with her heart sparks her anxiety.

As a result, she immediately convinced herself she was going to have a fatal heart attack.

"My anxiety is my heart so that was a trigger for me," Lauren says.

“Doctors and my close friends who suffer severe panic disorder are always the first to tell you panic attacks make your body feel like its having a heart attack due to the massive rush of adrenaline trying to escape your body any way it can. You get chest pains, palpitations and even shooting pains in your arm.”

"I started acting all crazy and needed to take my top off because I felt too hot."

Lauren adds: "It’s scary because you don’t understand what’s going on and that’s why you think you’re dying.

"It just comes over, five minutes ago I could be chatting and doing my make-up and the next minute feeling funny. "

Lauren is currently 25 weeks pregnant with hers and Charles' baby. The couple are expecting a little girl.

The former Towie star admits being a first time mum has made her feel anxious throughout her pregnancy, as she is experiencing everything for the first time.

However, despite having a fairly straightforward first trimester, Lauren noticed she was becoming more forgetful and clumsy as the weeks progressed.

Then, just two weeks ago, she suddenly realised she had not felt her baby move for a few hours.

Lauren says:  "I started getting myself into a bit of a state, thinking 'I’m not right, something’s not right'.

"So I called my NHS midwife and I said I hadn't felt my baby move."

Lauren was invited to the emergency pregnancy unit at her local hospital so she and her baby could be checked over.

As 23-year-old Charles was at work, Lauren drove herself there but found the 40-minute journey unbearable.

"My heart was going really fast," she recalls. "I couldn’t feel the baby and you read into all of these things, which isn’t always the best and you just think the worst.

"It was the first hot day. I was so hot – hot anyway because of pregnancy. I was so panicky and hot and I couldn’t get ready.

"I had to use my Sat Nav and it was quite a horrible time, like late afternoon with schools coming out, so it was quite busy.  Everything was on the roads  – tractors, horses, bikes."

Once at the hospital, Lauren struggled to find the right department, which left her in even more of a fluster.

She adds: "I was running around the hospital really bloody hot and I had this tracksuit on. The lady was really lovely, she was like, ‘Come in Lauren, you alright?’

"She then put me on the bed and put a heartbeat monitor on the baby. She checked with her hands around my belly and asked if I felt any pain. I said, ‘None at all’. 

"Straight away there was a strong healthy heartbeat. She listened for a minute and a half and said I was absolutely fine.

"I was like ‘Thank god’ and sighed in relief. She then put the heart monitor and blood pressure on me.

"She said it’s high and I was like ‘What do you mean?’"

The midwife checked Lauren over and told the star her racing heart was due to panic. She was otherwise given a clean bill of health.

But despite going for a walk around the hospital, Lauren struggled to calm herself down. She even put Charlie on the phone to the midwife to explain what was going on.

Lauren returned home that night but it took three days for her anxiety attack to pass.

"I had four hours sleep in two nights," Lauren reveals. "I’m quite strong-minded, which can be frustrating because sometimes I don’t believe what people tell me.

"I feel like they’re just trying to say it to distract me because something’s wrong. I’m quite stubborn in my head."

Lauren has since found comfort in talking to fellow mums, who have all explained that a faster heart rate during pregnancy can be normal because of the hormones. She now knows that it’s not a bad thing.

Her midwife has now also told her that her heart is incredibly busy pumping blood around her body for both herself and her baby, which has made Lauren feel better.

Lauren said: "My midwife said that she’d be worried if my heart wasn’t racing because it’s got to pump the blood. 

"Now I’ve turned it into a good thing and know I'm not going to die. My fear was that I was going to have a heart attack.

"I know it sounds so extreme and silly, but when I was in that state, my whole body was shaking, My heart was like I was running."

Lauren's midwife has now handed over her personal Whatsapp, so she can contact her if she has any more anxiety attacks or concerns.

The expectant mum is now firmly concentrating on her daughter's birth in just over three months' time.

Despite being offered a home birth, Lauren still hasn’t decided if she’s going to have it in the hospital or at home.  

She adds: "Everyone says to me that I'm not going to have time for anxiety when I have the baby. Because such a beautiful thing comes out of it, they've said I'm just going to forget about everything else.

"I’m going to be alright, I’m strong enough to do it."

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