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(Highly recommend) (Highly recommend) (Highly recommend) (Highly recommend) (Highly recommend) 4.96 (Highly recommend) from 26 votes (3773 Visits)

Molar Pregnancy...What is it?
cookclan by cookclan Young Parent(May 2007) (rank 8th)
This is just a subject I wanted to write about and share...It is a certain thing that has come to my thoughts again so I searched here and could not find anything so I thought there is an article topic here so I will write about it...

The subject
I wanted to cover in this advice Is Molar pregnancy...

A molar pregnancy is also called a hydatidiform mole, gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), or even sometimes just called a mole...They are not really common but are estimated to happen one in every one thousand pregnancies...So not that common but really deserving of an article I felt...

This condition occurs dues to a genetic error in the fertilization process that results in the growth of abnoramal tissues in the uterus...The growth looks like a  cluster of cells...similar to the appearance of grapes...The person can either have a complete molar pregnancy or a partial molar pregnancy...

A complete molar pregnancy is just the placenta there is no baby present in the growth...This usually happens when the egg dropped that month is empty and the sperm fertilizes this...The placenta keeps growing but there is no baby so it still produces pregnancy hormones...Any ultrasound had will show there is no baby but just a placenta...I had a friend who has had this type of molar pregnancy and it was devastating to her...The baby she had been nurturing in side her never existed and it really affected her alot...She felt cheated she told me as all blood tests had come back positive...

A partial Molar pregnancy is when the contents of the uterus is both abnormal cells and an baby with severe defects...The growing placenta overtakes the uterus and so the baby is overcome pretty quickly in this case...On a really very rare occasion twins can be concieved and one starts to frow normally and the other is a mole...Unfortunately in these cases the mole will overtake the normal baby and will result in a sad end for the pregnant woman...

Symptoms of this can be spotting and bleeding...feeling sick and vomitting...Very early High blood pressure...Very high hCG levels from your blood test..No movement or heart beat are also signs too...If these signs are present in a pregnancy s ultrasound will confirm if you have a molar pregnancy...

Alot of molar pregnancies will end on their own with a misscarriage...Others will have to be removed via a curette...After treatment of this type of pregnancy there is follow up to make sure all was removed or misscarried and the hCG levels are dropping because sometimes if there is a small amount left it can start to grow again and can sometimes have a cancerous type threat...If you have this type of pregnancy then trying again should be avoided for about 12 months...The risk of a person having another molar pregnancy is about 1-2% after you have had one...

As I said before a friend of mine had one of these type of pregnancies and she needed time to heal just like most women do after a misscarriage...It is a very personal thing really...Some look at this as being a loss others look at as being there was not something right so it happened this way...Whatever the feelings the person has just be there for them...give them support and just listen...

This is just something I wanted to share...
Have a great day
Cheers
Angie
Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.

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Izzy
5.00 (Excellent) | October 2007 | Izzy
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?
wow, I have never heard of this before. Thank you for an informative article.


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lightbee
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | lightbee
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?

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*



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      KathrynR1402
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | KathrynR1402
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?
I wasnt sure if it was the same thing so I looked it up on Wikipaedia and no, they're different. As far as I can work out, Phantom Pregnancy is the mind and body being tricked into believing it is pregnant when no conception has taken place, whereas Molar Pregnancy is where a pregnancy has gone wrong at conception because the ovum was genetically empty (therefore all the DNA is paternal). I took two pregnancy tests and both were positive. It looks like with a phantom pregnancy, the result would be negative. 


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           lightbee
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | lightbee
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?

Oh thanks Kathryn!  If I wasn't so lazy I probably could've looked it up myself! 

That makes sense as the girl I was referring to was desperately wanting a baby and I think I remember something being said about how that was part of why it happened.  Poor thing. Either way it's not a nice thing to have happen to someone.



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jmrmumstheword
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | jmrmumstheword
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?
its really wierd ive come across this advice to be honest because im currently pregnant and when we went for our first scan we couldnt see the baby at all she couldnt even tell me if there was a yolf sac really i got the results for the scan and it doesnt sound very good or hopeful i now have a cyst 4.3cm in size and it was stopping me from getting pregnant so its taken us over a year to fall with this baby i would be totally devestated if this was to be the case with us even though it is rare it doesnt mean to say it wont happen to us hey but ill wait for monday to find out the results of the next scan wish us luck
its just really wierd because ive been able to se all of my other babies on the screen at this stage im now 10 weeks so when i had the first scan i was 8 weeks gone but the scan said i was less than 6 weks so i dont know i just hope it turns out ok ive wanted this baby for so long now i dont want to grief the loss of a baby now


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      KathrynR1402
5.00 (Excellent) | July 2007 | KathrynR1402
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?

I hope the weekend passes quickly for you and you get good news on Monday! Do you feel more sick than usual? Molar preganancies however can upset the dating - I was 6 weeks and looked 12 inside & out, but others can go the opposite way.

Love & prayers!

Kathryn



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           jmrmumstheword
5.00 (Excellent) | August 2007 | jmrmumstheword
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?

ive had really bad morning sickness but the scan came back with great results although i do look like im 3/4 mths pregnant and im only 8 weeks and 3 days so far so its normal i guess i just wasnt given the proper results and answers i was looking for but my mind is now at ease

thank god



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                KathrynR1402
5.00 (Excellent) | August 2007 | KathrynR1402
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?

Great news re the scan!

Well, perhaps your body is happy to be pregnant and so has got on with growing quickly! I remember my horror when, 3 days after I'd got the positive on the preg test (and was therefore 2-3 weeks pregnant) DD1 told me my tummy was bigger at the top (preg bit, you know?) ALREADY! Heck, baby wasnt bigger than a peanut, and already my body was changing shape to accommodate it?!

At least now you can be sick and know there's a point to it LOL! Hope the sickness eases off in a few weeks time! Hope the next 7 months are wonderful for you!



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cazza
5.00 (Excellent) | June 2007 | cazza
Re: Molar Pregnancy...What is it?
wow how scary and sad...   and this helps us understand what these woman go through...

Great article angie..


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nell18-3
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | nell18-3
Molar Pregnancy...What is it?
Never heard of this but it sounds devastating when you find out thats what you had
xxx


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Jessgore
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | Jessgore
molar pregnancy..
I had one of these... Not the most enjoyable experience in the world. I think I was able to deal with it better then some people might because I was convinced there was something wrong... I went to one doctor who said I was three months pregnant, then to another a month later who also told me I was three months pregnant. But before that the only sign that I was pregnant was that my belly was growing, but I was not convinced...    I believe that the second doctor knew something was wrong because she had me booked in for an ultrasound two days later...

Sure I was devistated, but with out my husbands knowledge I had convinced myself before the ultrasound that it was not going to happen so I guess i kind of prepared myself for the worst and was ready for it when it hit.. The only thing I regret was not preparing my husband for it.   Not telling him that I thought there was something wrong. Not telling him that I had two doctors a month apart tell me I was three months pregnant. 

My baby had died at four weeks. We went in for the ultrasound and I was admitted to hospital straight away.  I spent the night.  I was told that we were lucky to find it when we did as it can cause infection and the chance of infertility.
And because I always like to look on the bright side of things, it had taken us four years to fall pregnant in the first place. After mole pregnancy with in months I was pregnant with my little ball of trouble Francis... And would not change that for the world...

I now have a tree that was given to my by my in-laws when I got out of hospital. It is an indoor plant.  And for some reason it is the only plant along with one I was given when my grandfather died that I have been able to keep alive...   And I think that if that tree was ever to die, I don't think I'd be happy with that. It is my little reminder of what might of been.. Silly I know it is a tree. But it is a tree given with love that came from something very sad... And I want to keep it alive...


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      cookclan
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | cookclan
Re: molar pregnancy..
The tree thing is beautiful Jess...Kisses and hugs to you Hunni...Isn't it weird when we know something is wrong beofre they tell us...I too knew something was wrong with my Jess before she died...And the tree thing is definately not silly at all...Its was a wonderful thought and one I am sure you will always treasure...
Mwah
Angie


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mumof2b
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | mumof2b
Wow...

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

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

Amanda



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merlin0903
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | merlin0903
thankyou

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



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KathrynR1402
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | KathrynR1402
Thanks

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!



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      cookclan
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | cookclan
Thanks
Hiya Hunni...

I don't think its the fact that there is no baby as you say I think the heartbreak would be the expectation of a baby that would be the killer for me...I am soo sorry you had to go through this and If you feel comfortable enough I think if you wanted to write an article on this  with your experience and emotions on it It would be great..I can just give the facts as I have learnt whereas you could give experiences and feelings to help others who have gone through it...Your choice but fully...
Mwah
Angie


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           KathrynR1402
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | KathrynR1402
Re: Thanks
funnily enough I'd been planning one in my head for a bit but knew I'd have to sit down and do the science bit, and then you did it! Saves me that trouble!! I will get around to doing the "my experience" bit sometime, tho I've put a lot in my comment on yours already !


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Kellzacar
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | Kellzacar
Molar Pregancy

Very interesting and informative artice.

Well done Ang . . . 

Cheers Kellz



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Marglr
5.00 (Excellent) | May 2007 | Marglr
Molar
I had heard of this but you explain it so well. It's so good to be educated about these things just so you can be there for someone if needed.


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Related keywords: hydatidiform, molar, pregnancy, trophoblastic

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