Pregnant woman
A North Korea defector revealed she was forced to have an abortion in a police station after she was repatriated from China. Pixabay

In an extremely rare case, a heavily pregnant woman in China had to undergo an emergency C-section, following severe complications that occurred after her unborn baby kicked her womb, tearing it.

According to reports, the woman only identified as Zhang had a torn wound on her uterus which the doctors suspect might have been due to a previous surgery. Zhang was 35 weeks pregnant when she was brought to the hospital. The doctors at the Peking University Shenzhen Hospital in southern China suspected it to be a case of uterine rupture. However, they performed a cesarean section and delivered the baby, the Daily Mail Online reported. Mother and the baby daughter were in stable condition, it was reported.

Uterine rupture occurs when there is a tear in the wall of the uterus, mostly in the place of a previous C-section opening, according to Baby Centre.

The website also stated that the rupture can either be partial or complete. In case of a complete rupture, the tear goes through all the walls of the uterus which can be dangerous not only for the baby but for the mother as well.

Following are some of the signs of ruptures to watch out for, courtesy Healthline.com:

  • abnormality in the baby’s heart rate
  • abdominal pain
  • vaginal bleeding
  • sudden pain between contractions
  • abnormal abdominal soreness
  • loss of uterine muscle tone
  • low blood pressure
  • rapid pulse rate
  • rapid heart rate
  • bulging under the pubic bone
  • pain in the uterus
  • pain in the chest

Although uterine rupture is quite rare, it can very dangerous — both for mother and her baby. It can cause major blood loss or, in some cases, hemorrhage, according to Healthline. In case of the baby, if the doctors diagnose a uterine rupture, they must quickly pull the baby out of the womb within a span of 10 to 40 minutes; else the unborn baby might die due to the lack of oxygen.

In Zhang’s case, she told the doctors that she had developed tumors in the uterus after which she had them surgically removed. Shortly after her surgery, she got pregnant.

The doctors suspected that she had suffered a uterine rupture due to the scars left behind from her previous surgery. A strong kick let out by her unborn child triggered the situation and tore the woman’s uterus, causing her severe abdominal pain.

In a statement, the hospital said: “The doctor initially suspected uterine rupture, immediately arranged to do B super. A check found that the fetus’ legs kicked off the uterus into the abdominal cavity, thighs stuck in the uterine wall. This left her with the threat of suffering an infection, a hemorrhage, or even losing the baby,” Metro News reported.

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