Pregnancy can be both the most amazing and most terrifying time in a woman's life.
On the one hand, intended pregnancies are something to celebrate. If you'd been wishing to be blessed with a new son or daughter, carrying and giving birth to a child can feel like a true miracle.
But as any mom who has experienced pregnancy's less glamorous side effects is well aware, there are plenty of things that can go wrong while you're cooking your little bun in the oven.
I thought I'd heard of every conceivable pregnancy complication. But one mom-to-be's shocking story blew me away.
Typically, feeling your baby kick while in the womb is an amazing experience. It's like your wee one is saying hello — while also possibly giving you heartburn. Unfortunately, this particular unborn baby's strong kicks almost killed both mom and child.
Scroll through to read all about this "extremely rare" pregnancy complication!
Thumbnail Photo: Pixabay / DanielReche
[H/T: Daily Mail]
One pregnant woman in China experienced a mom-to-be's worst nightmare when her baby's strong kicks almost killed her.
Ms. Zhang and her family initially thought that she had a mere stomachache.
But the severe abdominal pain didn't abate after about five hours, and the symptoms were soon accompanied by high blood pressure, a quick pulse, and breathing issues. She was taken to the hospital at around 10 a.m. on October 2, 2017.
The first-time mom was rushed to the Peking University Shenzhen Hospital in southern China, where doctors say something "extremely rare" happened.
Doctors were shocked when an ultrasound revealed that one of the baby's legs had kicked out of (and through) the pregnant woman's uterus wall.
The unborn baby girl's foot was now poking into her mom's abdomen, causing the severe pain Ms. Zhang had been experiencing for hours.
In a statement posted on the hospital's official social media account alongside the photos, officials explained how they thought this strange occurrence happened.
Ms. Zhang's medical history revealed that she'd undergone an operation to remove a uterine fibroid (a tumor growing in the uterus) back in 2016, leaving an old scar at the incision site.
She became pregnant six months after the operation.
Doctors believe that the baby inadvertently kicked at precisely the spot where Ms. Zhang had her earlier incision to remove the fibroid.
This caused a uterine rupture, allowing the baby's leg to poke through.
Considering her condition critical, doctors rushed Ms. Zhang into emergency surgery.
They delivered the baby 10 minutes after the C-section began.
Zhong Shilin, one of Ms. Zhang's doctors, claimed to have found a seven centimeter-long rupture (approximately 2.8 inches) on the new mom's uterus when he performed the emergency C-section.
The doctor also said that Ms. Zhang's amniotic sac had broken as a result of the kick, causing amniotic fluid to flow into her abdomen.
Thanks to the doctors' timely intervention, Ms. Zhang's baby girl was born at 35 weeks.
Both mom and baby are said to be in stable condition, according to the hospital.
Dr. Zhong recommended in his statement that women who have previously had fibroid-removal operations wait one to two years before becoming pregnant, in order to give the incision site sufficient time to heal.
He also suggested women who have had fibroids removed have a comprehensive check on their entire reproductive system prior to trying for a baby.
While uterine ruptures are very rare, something similar happened to a French mother in 2016.
As detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine, the tear in that mom's uterus allowed her unborn baby's foot to poke through (though her amniotic sac didn't rupture, as Ms. Zhang's did). Both mom and baby also survived in that instance.
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