Mother, baby safe after complicated surgery

Dr. Bashar Abdoh with the precious baby at Al Noor Hospital, Airport Road Branch, Abu Dhabi

Doctors at Al Noor Hospital Airport Road Branch managed to save a woman who delivered five times via C-section and was pregnant with her sixth child after being diagnosed with the most severe form of placenta accreta, a dangerous and rare condition in which the placenta not only adheres to the uterine muscle, but penetrates the uterus and in some cases other organs adjacent to it, as well.
Left unchecked, this condition can be life-threatening to both mother and baby as it can result in severe bleeding.
During a routine follow-up at Al Noor Hospital Airport Road, Dr Bashar Abdoh, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist in collaboration with Dr Muzibunissa, Consultant Fetal Medicine and the Radiology Department, diagnosed the patient with placenta previa and suspected accreta.
Placenta previa, is also a serious complication of pregnancy in which the placenta is attached close to or covers the cervix.
The ultrasound revealed that the placenta has penetrated the uterus wall as a result of her multiple cesarean deliveries. Women diagnosed with this rare condition often undergo a hysterectomy, which involves the removal of the uterus immediately following the delivery of the child.
After a series of control and precautionary measures were put in place against the potential complications that may arise from this condition, the patient underwent a planned cesarean section at 36 weeks of gestation. The procedure lasted one hour and was carried out under general anesthesia, and the child was successfully delivered in the breach position. Doctors also managed to control the bleeding and save the uterus.
"The surgery is certainly a challenging and an unpredictable one; women with a placenta that has deeply penetrated the uterus through a previous cesarean scar may bleed severely during surgery," said Dr Bashar Abdoh, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist.
"Doctors in this situation will have to manage a string of challenging issues simultaneously, including the safe delivery of the baby, the bleeding and the reservation or even the removal of the uterus," he added.
The patient and her baby were both discharged from the hospital after four days.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com