Miscarriages due to fibroids, Bengaluru woman delivers healthy baby girl

BENGALURU: A 31-year-old woman in Bengaluru discovered that nearly half the weight she was carrying was not just her growing baby, but a surprising mass of fibroids. After enduring years of heartache due to multiple miscarriages, Alia (name changed) finally achieved her dream of motherhood, but with a big surprise awaiting her and the doctors.
On Oct 5, when Alia delivered a baby girl at a govt-run Vani Vilas hospital, it came with a staggering mass of 3.9 kg of fibroids.
In the past eight years, Alia experienced three miscarriages, first in 2016. Just two months into her pregnancy, she recalled rushing to a hospital in Mysuru after her water broke. "The doctors said the heartbeat had increased quite a bit, and then the baby flatlined," she shared, reflecting on her first heartbreak, while speaking to TOI from her hospital bed at Vani Vilas hospital.
After that, Alia and her husband Zubaid (name changed), who works with electrical motors, tried for another pregnancy, but the same unfortunate outcome occurred. It was during this time that she learned about the fibroids in her uterus, which were causing the miscarriages. In Nov 2017, she underwent a myomectomy to remove them, but was disheartened to learn that the fibroids had re-emerged the following year. "I stopped medications," she admitted. The couple relocated to Banashankari in Bengaluru in 2019 in hopes of a fresh start.
In Jan 2023, Alia experienced a pleasant surprise, when her periods stopped; she was pregnant for the third time. This time, they crossed the two-month mark with ease, and she felt hopeful. "Everyone wants a baby in their life, and we were finally having one. It was god's blessings." Unfortunately, four months into this pregnancy, she lost her baby in a similar manner.
A year later in Jan 2024, Alia got pregnant for the fourth time. Her friends recommended Vani Vilas Hospital. Doctors recalled her arrival at 2.5 months of pregnancy, where they performed a cervical cerclage, a stitch to support the pregnancy, and ensured constant monitoring. "Otherwise, the baby would have been aborted in the second trimester. When we scanned prior to delivery, we learned of the fibroids, but could not determine their exact number or size," a treating doctor said.
A multi-specialty team, including obstetricians, anaesthesiologists, and paediatricians, was involved in a complex 40-minute surgery on Oct 5 to safely deliver the baby, control torrential bleeding, and extract the fibroid-infested uterus. Dr Savitha C, medical superintendent, who led the obstetrics team, noted, "Usually, we find six fibroids, but in this case, the whole uterus was replaced by fibroids of different sizes. The uterus after delivery is usually one kg, but this one weighed four kg."
Doctors regarded this as a testament to the strength of the mother, who carried nearly seven kilos of weight (4 kg from fibroids and uterus, 2.3 kg from the baby, and 800 grams from the placenta) to bring her precious girl into the world. Alia laughed, "We all thought the baby was big and healthy, which is why it seemed like I was nine months pregnant when I had completed just seven. But we are glad it all worked out in the end."