Molar pregnancy is a type of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), which is a noncancerous tumor that develops in the uterus. It occurs when an egg and a sperm meet for fertilization, but the cells don’t grow in a way that can support pregnancy.
Also known as hydatidiform mole, molar pregnancy occurs when the nucleus of an egg is either lost or inactivated. The sperm then reproduce itself since the egg lacks genetic information- normally there’s no placenta, fetus, amniotic membrane, and fluid.
The uterus is instead filled with the mole that is similar to a cluster of grapes. The fluid filled vesicles rapidly grow, which can make the uterus appear bigger than it’s supposed to be for gestational age. And since there is no placenta to receive the blood, bleeding into the uterine cavity or vaginal bleeding occurs.
Partial Mole pregnancy on the other hand occurs when two sperms fertilize the same egg that can cause partial placentas, membranes, or even a fetus present in a partial mole. Nevertheless, the baby usually has genetic problems. This seldom happens on twin pregnancy, but if it does, the other twin hardly ever survives.
Symptoms of Molar Pregnancy
You might experience at the early stage of your pregnancy all the pregnancy symptoms but at some point you’ll start to have some bleeding. Keep in mind though that just because your bleeding doesn’t mean you have a molar pregnancy. Bleeding in early pregnancy is quite common so it is advisable to consult your doctor.
Molar pregnancy bleeding varies from bright red or dark brown, to light or heavy, and continuous or patchy. The bleeding could start either as early as your sixth week or as late as your 16th week.
Severe nausea and vomiting (hyperemesis) and swelling of the belly may occur due to the placenta growing so fast, which makes your uterus expand. Passage of grape-like vesicles with bleeding, shortness of breath, and enlarged tender ovaries might also occur. No need to worry though because a complete molar pregnancy can usually be seen on an early ultrasound.
Treatment
Molar pregnancy can be treated through minor operation called dilation and curettage (D&C) in which your cervix will be widened and gentle suction will be done to remove the tissues. This is done while you are asleep under a general anesthetic. A curette will then be used to scrape the remaining tissues from your uterus wall.
Molar pregnancy is a rare occurrence, as a matter of fact it only occurs in 1/1000 pregnancies. It is however inevitable, so the only thing you can do is to stay healthy in order to prepare your body for fertilization.
