Woman who feared she’d never be a mum after losing child from ectopic pregnancy conceives ‘miracle’ baby
Emma Pearce and her partner Allan Blake are looking forward to welcoming their first child in January 2017
A WOMAN who feared she’d never be a mum after losing her child from an ectopic pregnancy has shared her joy after conceiving a ‘miracle’ baby.
Emma Pearce, 33-year-old carer from St Austell, Cornwall, was just two months into her pregnancy when she began to experience light bleeding.
Worried, she phoned her midwife, who told her to keep an eye on things, and come back in a week if the bleeding continued.
“For the next week, I didn’t feel myself. I just knew something wasn’t right,” she said.
“At first, I felt guilty going back to the midwife, like I was taking their time away from others who really needed it, but I wanted to know what was going on.”
Medics at The Royal Cornwall Hospital ran an emergency scan that showed Emma’s embryonic sac, but nothing else.
She continued: “I was told it could be that it was just too early to see anything, but I was terrified. All I knew was there was no baby in my womb, but I had no idea why.”
Emma was booked in for another scan the following week where doctors discovered a dark patch in her left fallopian tube.
“I didn’t know what they meant at first, but then a nurse rubbed my leg and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I realised then it was bad,” she said.
“It was horrible knowing that, technically, my baby was alive. I hadn’t miscarried, yet I still had to get rid of it.
“I felt like it was my fault, like I’d done something to cause this.”
With no way of saving her unborn child, Emma was told she’d need surgery – and fast.
If left to develop, an ectopic pregnancy can rupture the fallopian tube, causing potentially fatal bleeding.
During her operation, which took place in February, it was discovered Emma’s tube was irreparably damaged and would also need to be removed.
Though she was reassured she still had a “50/50” chance of conceiving naturally, she admitted she harboured fears over what having her tube removed would mean for her fertility.
Still healing from her loss, babies were the furthest thing from Emma’s mind when she jetted off to Portugal with her partner Allan Blake, 27, in May this year.
But, relaxing into the holiday spirit, they soon felt comfortable enough to have unprotected sex – something they hadn’t done since her surgery.
Emma, who was desperate to be a mum, discovered she was pregnant just a few weeks later, after taking a test out of curiosity.
Related Stories
Now, she is delighted to welcome her first child – a boy, due January 2017.
“We wanted to make sure my body had had time to heal, but the first time we had full, unprotected sex since the surgery, we conceived,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was scared I’d never get pregnant again. Now, I want to show other women out there that there is still motherhood hope after an ectopic pregnancy.”
She added: “Given what happened, it’s difficult for us to fully relax until the baby is here, and we’ve found the wait between scans quite difficult, as we’ve got no choice but to just assume things are fine.
“But it’s getting easier. Allan and I can see our baby moving now, and I can feel him kicking.”
WHAT IS AN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY?
*An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes
*The fallopian tubes are the tubes connecting the ovaries to the womb. If an egg gets stuck in them, it won't develop into a baby and your health may be at risk if the pregnancy continues
*Unfortunately, it's not possible to save the pregnancy
*It usually has to be removed using medicine or an operation
*In the UK, around 1 in every 80-90 pregnancies is ectopic. This is around 12,000 pregnancies a year
Source: NHS Choices
