With the miracle of life comes the inevitability that something could go wrong inside the womb, and there are times when healthy mothers wonder how they got through those nine months unscathed. For one 32-year old mom, something as small as a stray fingernail or hair from one of her in-utero twins was enough to nearly cause her death.

Angela Cottam’s lungs collapsed after she suffered severe internal bleeding, and with five weeks left of her pregnancy, she delivered her daughters prematurely. The babies had to be resuscitated immediately, and Cottam needed seven pints of blood, 22 transfusions, and spent 12 hours in a coma. Doctors say that an errant part of one of the babies was the culprit–either a hair or fingernail–and must have passed into her bloodstream, causing all kinds of chaos in her body.

Cottam says that after her recovery, she realizes just how close all three of them came to death and has had a hard time dealing with it.

“There are moments when I’ve been on my own and I’ve had a little cry and thought ‘What if?’ But I try not to dwell on that and just thank my lucky stars the doctors and midwives on duty that day recognised what was happening. Knowing that I almost died has changed my perspective on life, I’m more laid back and I am enjoying being a mum more than ever because I know we were so close to losing so much,” she said.

Mom and baby girls are recovering and are expected to be just fine after the ordeal.