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Chemical Pregnancy and Blighted Ovum
The Role of Blighted Ovum and Chemical Pregnancy in Miscarriages
By Laurie Dove
Linda Sherwood of Lake City, Mich., didn't hear the term "blighted ovum" until she was 29 years old and well into her third failed pregnancy. "When I first heard the term, I had no idea what it meant, but my doctor explained it to me very well," she says. "Once I understood, I was crying."
A blighted ovum is the cause of about 50 percent of first trimester miscarriages, says Dr. Denise Martinez, an obstetrician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. It means an egg is fertilized and attaches itself to the uterine wall, but the embryo doesn't develop. Cells develop to form the pregnancy sac, but not the embryo itself.
Often, there is no bleeding or other signs of a failed pregnancy. A woman may not realize there is a problem with the pregnancy, which by then is thought to be several weeks along, until a doctor fails to detect a heartbeat or an ultrasound reveals an empty gestational sac.
Although Sherwood had two pregnancies that previously ended in miscarriage, her third pregnancy seemed hopeful. It had already lasted longer than her first two pregnancies. In her 12th week, Sherwood agreed to a series of ultrasounds, each showing deterioration in the placenta's shape and form. The fertilized egg, which had initially attached itself to the placenta, was no longer there.
"I knew something was up, but I didn't realize exactly what it was until I sat in my doctor's office," she says. "I had really thought the extended length of this pregnancy – the failure of my body to have a miscarriage – was good news. Part of this was hopefulness on my part. I wanted everything to be OK."
The ultrasounds and blood tests confirmed the diagnosis: blighted ovum. "It wasn't that doctors weren't telling me this might happen," she says. "I just didn't want to hear the possibilities."
