According to the NHS, 1 in 8 pregnancies will result in miscarriage. Miscarriages occur for several reasons with most being that the foetus isn't developing normally. About 50 percent of miscarriages are associated with extra or missing chromosomes. Most often, chromosome problems result from errors that occur by chance as the embryo divides and grows — not problems inherited from the parents.
"The more people that shout about their molar pregnancy the better."
"The more people that shout about their molar pregnancy the better. No womxn deserves to feel alone in this," says Lucrecia Fernandez, a 32-year-old psychologist from London.
In 2016, Fernandez went through a miscarriage due to a very rare pregnancy defect known as ‘complete molar pregnancy.’
There are two types of molar pregnancies, partial and complete. A partial molar pregnancy is where there may be early signs of a baby, but it cannot fully develop or survive, whereas a complete molar pregnancy is where abnormal cells grow in the womb after conception and there's no sign of a baby.
"A complete molar pregnancy is when a single sperm fertilises an empty egg which has none of the mother’s genetic material inside, meaning that there are not enough of the right chromosomes for the baby to be able to develop," Fernandez explains.
Molar pregnancies are rare. Doctors understand the causes of molar pregnancies, but there are no obvious underlying causes or risk factors. These types of pregnancies are more common in teenage womxn and womxn over the age of 45.
Fernandez and her partner had been trying to have a baby for many years and in 2016, Fernandez finally fell pregnant.
"My partner and I were so excited to be expecting a baby! I had always dreamed of being a mum, but we decided to keep it as secret due to the risk of losing the baby as I was inly 8 weeks pregnant," Fernandez told me.
Pregnancy symptoms can vary from womxn to womxn, Fernandez experienced morning sickness and felt nauseated throughout the day which is normal in most pregnancies. Fernandez’s pregnancy was developing as normal until she started to feel severe pelvic pain followed by heavy bleeding.
"Being pregnant felt too good to be true. I was devastated and traumatised."
"My partner and I rushed to the hospital. I had an ultrasound done. Later on that evening, after waiting for nearly six hours we were informed that I had a miscarriage due to a complete molar pregnancy. Being pregnant felt too good to be true. I was devastated and traumatised," she tells me.
Fernandez continued to tell us her story, ‘’when you are pregnant you read thousands of blogs about pregnancy from different womxn, but a complete molar pregnancy was something that I had never heard of before and neither had my partner. I was lucky to have a doctor that explained it to me and answer all of our questions,’’
"I felt really empty and hopeless."
Fernandez had surgery on the same day where they removed the molar tissue. ‘’The operation went quickly and very well, but after that I felt really empty and hopeless,’’ she told me.
Fernandez explained that she had follow up treatment with a specialised hospital where she needed to have urine blood tests every two weeks to check her level of human chorionic gonadotrophic hormones (hcG).
‘’They had to monitor my hcG levels, because when my hcG levels didn’t go back down to negative, it meant that it could turn into a rare form of cancer,’’ Fernandez says.
According to Cancer Research , the length of time that a woman affected by molar pregnancy is required to send samples during their follow up depends on their hcG levels and how quickly their levels go back to normal. Fernandez had followed up treatments for a year and a half, because her hcG levels came down slow than the usual time for a complete molar pregnancy which is usually 6 months.
Fernandez encourages every womxn to speak about their molar pregnancy and miscarriages whenever they feel ready to open up about it and share it with the world.
‘’The more people that talk openly about their molar pregnancy the better. No woman deserves to feel alone in this"
‘’The more people that talk openly about their molar pregnancy the better. No woman deserves to feel alone in this,’’ Fernandez says.
Fernandez is now the co-member of a women’s health blog where she gives advice to young womxn and womxn.
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