Miracle baby born from ectopic pregnancy
A true survivor. This little girl was born full-term, from of an ovarian pregancy, which is a very life threatening condition. It is not often that mother and child survive ectopic pregnancies.
BARBERTON – Switchfoot sings “The shadow proves the sunshine”. These words proved very true when doctors and medical staff of Barberton Provincial Hospital witnessed a real miracle last week. It must have been a real privilege, and is highly unlikely that they will see such an occurrence again. It will surely be a topic of conversation for many years to come.
On October 1, Lindelwa Ncane, a 2,84kg baby girl came into the world, crying lustily like any other healthy newborn, but nothing about her birth was normal. Her mother, 31-year-old Conbzeni Ncane carried her first born to term, not in her womb, but according to Dr Luzanne Grundling, Head of the Obstetrics and Paediatrics Departments, in the gestational sack that was attached to her right ovary.
According to Internet sources, ovarian pregnancy is a very serious condition and only four documented cases in which both mother and baby survived, could be found on Google. Wikipedia says, “Ovarian pregnancy refers to an ectopic pregnancy that is located in the ovary. Typically the egg cell is not released or picked-up at ovulation, but fertilised within the ovary where the pregnancy implants. Such a pregnancy usually does not proceed past the first four weeks. An untreated ovarian pregnancy causes potentially fatal intra-abdominal bleeding and may thus become an emergency.”
We visited mother and daughter early on Saturday morning. Both looked healthy and according to the medical staff, the mother has made a remarkable recovery.
Conbzeni told us that apart from a little pain, she didn’t suspect anything wrong throughout the nine months. She went for regular check-ups and everything seemed in order. “I only realised something was wrong when I went for a scan at the hospital. I thank God for this child – she is my little miracle,” said a smiling Conbzeni.
According to Grundling, surgery commenced on October 1 without any problems.
“Once the abdominal cavity was opened, it was clear that there was nothing usual about this case. The uterus was found to be small, as expected in a non-pregnant woman, and a large mass was visible behind the uterus. The baby’s feet could be seen through a thin membrane that soon started leaking fluid. The baby girl, weighing 2,84kg, was delivered without difficulty.
“The more complicated issue was identifying where the placenta was attached. It was with great relief that it was found that it was not adhered to any bowel or large blood vessels. The gestational sack was attached to the right ovary and broad ligament, which was removed without any problem.”
Such pregnancies, which take place outside the womb cavity, are known in medical terms as ectopic or extra-uterine pregnancies. The large majority of them are implanted in the fallopian tubes. Generally this causes pain and discomfort with subsequent rupture and bleeding that starts to occur within the first trimester of pregnancy.
In most cases it is considered life threatening to the mother, and immediate medical treatment is required to prevent the foetus from growing. This can take the form of either surgical of medication as less than 0,2 per cent of ectopic pregnancies plant into the ovary and the chance of a foetus developing to a healthy-term baby is extremely unlikely, even less than one in a million.
