A young mother-of-two has been unable to urinate since the birth of her daughter five years ago.

Rachel Ingram, 26, from Kent, was induced five days before her due date, with daughter Isla, now five, having to be pulled out in an emergency delivery.

This mother then began developing recurrent urine infections, as well as crippling abdominal pain, which lead to her screaming in agony for two hours while trying to go to the toilet.

Although her symptoms were initially dismissed as a urine infection, Ms Ingram was diagnosed with Fowler’s Syndrome, which affects women, when doctors discovered two litres of fluid in her bladder.

Ms Ingram, whose condition caused her to develop sepsis twice in the past 18 months, has passed out from the pain and is forced to take 230 tablets a week to manage her discomfort.

Forced to quit her job, she relies on her husband to take care of her and has to urinate through a tube in her abdomen.

Ms Ingram is speaking out to raise awareness of the Fowler’s Syndrome.

Passed out from the pain 

Since having emergency surgery to remove the urine in her bladder, Ms Ingram, who was previously healthy, has endured recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) and bladder spasms.

In an attempt to make her bladder function again, Ms Ingram had a ‘pacemaker’ fitted at the base of her spine.

Bladder pacemakers send electrical signals down nerve pathways that run from the brain to the nerves in the lower back that control the bladder.

Yet, this procedure was unsuccessful and caused nerve damage in her legs, resulting in her relying on a crutch to get about.

Ms Ingram, who has lost consciousness due to the pain of passing kidney stones associated with Fowler’s, also has to take an antibiotic every day to prevent UTIs.