What a sad circumstance to experience.  Thank you for writing this up Angie, it is one of those topics that when you are needing to know about them either for yourself or to support a friend through it often you dont and so I really appreciate you taking this opportunity.

Peace
EF.x

thank you so much this information really helped me alot.!

hi my name is natalie and im 19 yrs old and my doctor told me after i had a miscarrage that it was a partial molar pregnancy, i was so scared when he told me so i started looking on the internet to find out what it was all about and your article really helped me and everything that i needed to know! if there is anything esle u can tell me about it that would be great

Is this the same thing as a phantom pregnancy?  I had a friend of a friend who had one of those and she had all the symptoms of pregnancy - including getting a huge swollen belly - but no baby.  She was quite a long way along (4 or 5 months I believe) before the awful truth was found out.  She had a similar reaction to your friend - all the grief and loss for the baby she'd thought she had.

Excellent article as always Angie. 

*hugs*

How devastating that would be......I'm speechless!

I've never heard of this before! Thank you for telling us about it!

Amanda

thank you so much for sharing that i have never heard of this condition before and i feel so sorry for all the women that have or are going through it as it must be

great advice piece and yes it needed to be out there for everyone

thanks for writing this Angie. I had one of these in 2005. It really is devastating and made me feel a  freak - it took 9 months for me to find someone else who'd had one. People tell you they know what you've been through as they had a miscarriage, but they dont - it's so confusing as they lost a baby but your baby was just in your head, and now you have to face the risk of cancer, AND you're not allowed to try again for AGES.

In the UK the rate is 1 in 1200 pregnancies. If you have had one, the rate for a second is 1 in 80. If 2, then the rate becomes (I think) one in 6. I had to think long and hard before I went back to try for another baby. There are two follow-up groups in the UK. If your hCG levels return down to "norminal zero" in 8 weeks after the D&C, then you get a "short follow up" which means no pregnancy or Pill for 6 months. I took 10 weeks! Then the 6 months count from when you hit zero. That was a killer! There is a 20% risk of the tumour (which is what the mole is) turning malignant, but the recovery rate is very high (I think statistically one woman a year dies in the UK). However, all that 20% are in the "long follow-up" group, and about 50% of women end up in that group, so I was in the lucky half of that group.

For me the hydatidiform mole was picked up really early as I had bleeding at 4 weeks gestation. It was too early to diagnose so I came back at 5.5 weeks and the ultrasound showed "no baby". The blood test that afternoon showed what it really was - the lady who dealt with me couldnt have been better, leaving me her home number to phone as I was out when she called with the results. When I rang back she was just about to go out on her 40th birthday celebrations. How professional is that, to keep thinking of the patients needs! I was in for the D&C the next working day, and it was a very extensive D&C as they cant afford to leave anything behind at all. The op knocked me for 6. But at least no more sickness - I dont usually get any so this was awful for me, especially once I knew it was for no good reason.

If anyone else is going through this, feel free to Minti-mail me for support. And if you're years further down the line, it would be nice to chat too!

Very interesting and informative artice.

Well done Ang . . . 

Cheers Kellz