May
my friend recently told me she was pregnant! i was so happy for her and she was really excited. she was due to have her first scan next week so im assuming she was checked out by her doc who confirmed the pregnancy etc. she started bleeding yesterday so was rushed to hospital where they stated she wasnt pregnant. however she has a placenta etc and has been told she will have to go throught labour. the docs stated there never was a baby and that this was a phantom pregnancy? im so confused and i dont want to upset her more by asking questions……i was under the impression that a phantom pregnancy was completley false - no baby, placenta amniotic fluid etc. but she states the docs say that she didn’t have a miscarraige. but how can she have a placenta, sac and amniotic fluid if there was never a baby? and shouldnt they just do a d and c rather than induce labour??
i want to know as much as i can so i can be there for her and support her please help
Answer:
what your friend had is a blighted ovum, you get a positive pregnancy result but only the sac develops nothing else no baby! i had the same happen to me a couple of years ago. its not called a phantom pregancy at all.
she was pregnant but there was either a bad sperm or egg to blame it will most probly not happen to her again its just one of those things.
Answer:
What she went through can't be a phantom pregnancy!!
A phantom, or false pregnancy, is a condition in which a non-pregnant woman exhibits all the classic symptoms of pregnancy and is firmly convinced that she is pregnant even when clear medical evidence shows that she’s not. The medical term for this condition is pseudocyesis…………
Answer:
She has what's known as a “blighted Ovum”, which is where the embreyo (spelling, sorry!) fails to develope. The body has to go through the process of having a miscarriage. I'd suggest you be there for her after all this, and just let her talk about the pregnancy, it may help her, and just try to help her heal the best that she has the ability to.
Answer:
If you want my honest view - I think she's made up the whole thing. Probably just wants attention. The reason she doesn't want you at the hospital with her is because she's not actually going to be in hospital. It's not necessary y'see - since she's only having a period.
Answer:
If I were you, I'd speak with the physicians and nurses at the hospital. Take them aside (out of her earshot) and ask about what happened to her. Ask about the name for it, and the processes behind how it happens. Get as informed as you can, without upsetting your friend.
A phantom pregnancy is when the mind tricks the body into thinking that there is a pregnancy. (I was diagnosed with one a few years ago). There is no actual physiological process (no placenta, or umbilical cord or anything like that). There’s a name for what your friend went through, but, at the moment, I can't think of it.
To help her, I'd recommend just being there to listen. Whatever you do, don't tell her that it is just a bunch of tissues and whatever and to get over it (I've heard of people doing this, and it just ends up causing more pain, which is the last thing the grieving person needs). She’ll probably have a lot of issues around feeling as if she's failed somehow, or resentment for others who have healthy babies, or people who are pregnant. Be sympathetic, and grant her to work through her feelings, without judging her, or getting angry. The biggest thing she needs right now is to release her feelings, no matter what they are, and to know that she has friends around her who love her.
Please tell her I am thinking of her, and good luck to you both!