In a rare, shocking case out of China, a pregnant woman nearly lost her life after her baby kicked right through her uterus, causing blood and amniotic fluid to fill her abdomen.
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Late in pregnancy a baby's kicks and elbows and rolls and turns can certainly feel stong enough to burst through, but expecting mothers are generally assured that such a thing will never happen.
I for one, was never so sure. Especially during my second pregnancy when my 5'2" frame carried a baby that weighed nine-and-a-half pounds at birth. There were a few times I actually held onto her whole foot through my belly and there were instances when the sheer force of her movements stopped me in my tracks.
The woman, who was identified as Ms. Zhang by the hospital that delivered her baby, was 35 weeks pregnant at the time of the incident. And prior to becoming pregnant she had undergone fibroid removal surgery.
According to reports, the baby's powerful kick re-opened the wound from that surgery, rupturing her uterine wall. The baby's foot went right through her uterus! After experiencing hours of abdominal pain, the woman went to the hospital where she had an emergency C-section.
The statement from Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, where she delivered, said the rupture was seven centimeters–a little less than three inches–and that both mother and baby are now in stable condition.
Back when I was in college and getting my yearly exams at the student health center, my favorite nurse practitioner advised me to start preparing for future pregnancies by getting regular check-ups, keeping up with preventative care and taking pre-natal vitamins, even though I wasn't planning on having kids for years.
Now hearing this story, I'm so thankful I followed her advice. Knowing your body, good quality healthcare and access to information can literally save lives. Had this woman known not to get pregnant within six months of her previous surgery, she may not have had to go through such a traumatic incident.
