A molar pregnancy can be a scary and confusing diagnosis. You may be wondering what happened to the baby? Is this like a miscarriage? If there is no baby, why did the pregnancy test come out positive? These are all valid questions.
It helps to first understand what it means to have a molar pregnancy. In a normal pregnancy, conception happens when a healthy egg meets sperm. The sperm fertilizes the egg and the fertilized egg begins dividing rapidly. The hCG hormone is present in the blood within about a week of conception. It may be a few weeks before a home pregnancy test will detect the hormone. A molar pregnancy occurs when an abnormal egg, having no genetic information, meets sperm; or when a normal egg meets two sperm at once. The result is abnormal genetic composition and a growing mass of tissue accompanied by an abnormal placenta. The grapelike cluster can fill the uterus and produces the pregnancy hormone, triggering a positive test result. Any fetal tissue that does happen to develop will most likely have severe defects. Molar pregnancies can be classified as partial or complete.
Molar pregnancies can result in heavy bleeding from the uterus. Occasionally, complete molar pregnancies can develop into a cancer. Nearly 100% of woman treated are cured. It is important that the mole is completely removed. The woman will be monitored for 6 months up to a year following a molar pregnancy to make sure that the mole is completely gone and does not begin to regrow. She should wait 12 months before attempting to conceive again.
There are several factors that can increase your risk for a molar pregnancy. If you are over 35, have had a past molar pregnancy, have a history of miscarriage, or have low vitamin A intake, you may increase your risk of molar pregnancy. Molar pregnancies are rare. Only 1 in 1000 woman with early pregnancy symptoms has a molar pregnancy.
Symptoms of a molar pregnancy include discharge that contains grapelike tissue, vaginal bleeding, an abnormally large uterus compared to the length of gestation, cramping, severe nausea and vomiting, and signs of hyperthyroidism. If you are pregnant and you experience these symptoms you should contact your doctor right away.
Learning you have suffered a molar pregnancy is just as devastating as suffering a miscarriage. Your hopes are dreams of motherhood were just as vivid and there is still a significant loss involved. You may feel frustrated about not being able to try to conceive again for long time. It can help to talk to others who have suffered a molar pregnancy. Others may not understand molar pregnancy and may say insensitive things like, “but it wasn’t even a baby.” Explain to them that even though there wasn’t a baby, your excitement about becoming a mother was just as real and tangible.