Have you ever heard of a uterine rupture? A recent report from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reveals of a case of a fetus managing to survive despite his legs poking through his mother's uterus.
The said condition was called a rupture pregnancy. The 33-year-old mother, according to IFL Science, showed no symptoms of the condition, not until her 22nd week where magnetic resonance imaging showed a one-inch rupture on her uterine wall. As it turns out, her baby's extended legs and abdomen had poked out her uterus and her amniotic sac had herniated. You can see the clear image here.
Doctors from Angers University Hospital in France noted that the mother's multiple caesarean sections in the past could have "weakened the uterine wall." However, despite the complication, the mother and her partner still pushed through the pregnancy.
"The patient and her partner were informed of the potential risks of these findings, including complete uterine rupture, placenta accreta, hysterectomy, and preterm birth," the NEJM report said. "They opted to proceed with the pregnancy with close monitoring."
The mother gave birth to a baby boy weighing 1.4 kilograms in her 30th week. Afterwards, doctors repaired her ruptured uterine wall and amniotic sac via surgery. The mother and her baby were discharged five days later and is doing well six months later.
According to a report from Medscape, a uterine rupture pregnancy is a rare condition that usually results to the fetus and the mother's death. Diagnosis of the condition is extremely hard as its symptoms are nonspecific and incosistent. It usually occurs among women with a "native, unscarred uterus" and those with "a surgical scar from previous surgery."
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