PA
A pregnant mum fears for the life of her unborn baby – because she is allergic to new technology.
Mum-of-one Hannah Metcalfe, 34, gets splitting headaches, stomach cramps and flu-like symptoms whenever she goes to places with wi-fi, uses her iPad or even makes a call on her mobile.
She suffers from electrosensitivity – a conditon so severe she has had to give up her job as a trainee solicitor.
But her biggest fear is for the safety of her unborn baby. Hannah suffered a miscarriage in November 2010 that she believes was triggered by being made to sit beneath fluorescent lights at work.
Now 11 weeks pregnant, she is worried for the health of her unborn baby as the condition makes her so ill.
Hannah, 34, said: "I'm not a technophobe, I wanted an iPad just like everyone else.
"But within minutes of switching on the wi-fi router to go on the internet I felt really unwell.
"I started to feel an intense build-up of pressure in my head and my digestive system was upset. I had a painful stomach and intense bloating.
"The symptoms only stopped when I turned it off."
Hannah believes her condition was caused by using sunbeds every week as a teenager to help cure a skin condition.
I was diagnosed with psoriasis aged two and at the age of nine I started having phototherapy treatments, maybe about half a dozen a year, using UVB light," she said.
"Then when I was 19 I bought a UVA/B sunbed for about £500 and I used to use it at home about once a week because I was young and I wanted to wear short skirts like other teens.
"I never had any trouble with the sunbeds but then when I was about 25, I bought a handheld light which was really powerful.
"If you held it against your skin for just 30 seconds you would burn but the idea was to build up a resistance so you could use it for a minute or so at a time.
"It allowed me to finally wear what I wanted and to go to the gym without having to be ashamed of my skin condition.
"But I think it's what tipped my sensitivity over the edge."
Following her miscarriage in 2010, Hannah quit her job to be a full time mum to her son Ollie, aged three.
Luckily, partner Mark Terry, 34, is a farmer and the couple are able to live a rural existence away from the hazards of modern technology.
However, gadgets are banned in the house and Mark has to do all of the errands in town so his partner can avoid wi-fi.
Hannah said: "I'm in a privileged position because I live in a rural area and at the moment it is possible for me to escape it but having found a Facebook group dedicated to electrosensitivity I know others are not so lucky."
Graham Lambrun, spokesman for researchers Powerwatch, said: "There are a now a significant number of people who appear to be sensitive to modern wireless technologies.
"Unfortunately electrosensitivity is not recognised as a disability or a medical condition in the UK, leaving these individuals with no way of financially supporting themselves or their families."