Molar Pregnancy: Types, symptoms and risk factors

Molar pregnancy is the rare pregnancy complication which causes abnormal placental cell growth. In such complications, the trophoblasts – cells that normally develop into the placenta – faces abnormal growth. “The joy of a newborn baby often follows a positive pregnancy test 9 months later.

However, there are situations when a pregnancy ends in a miscarriage. One of these is a molar pregnancy. Nowadays, Sonography has become a major way to detect the molar pregnancy,” said Dr Sunita Dube, MD, Radiologist and healthcare entrepreneur, in an interview with HT Lifestyle.

Types:

In case of healthy pregnancies, the placenta grows inside the uterus. The foetus is fed through the umbilical cord. In case of molar pregnancies, the tissue in the uterus produces an aberrant lump or tumour. Molar pregnancy are of two types – Partial molar pregnancy and Full molar pregnancy. When both the placenta and the embryo are defective, it is called partial molar pregnancy, in case of full molar pregnancy, there is a dysfunctional placenta, but no embryo.

Symptoms:

Early signs of molar pregnancy include vaginal bleeding within the first three months of pregnancy, severe nausea and vomiting, high blood pressure, no heartbeat in the baby, and an increase in abdominal girth as compared to a healthy pregnancy.

Risk factors:

“Molar pregnancy risk factors include being pregnant before a specific age and after a given age, such as 40, diet inadequacies, and lack of nutrients to the foetus in the early ages. If someone has already had molar pregnancies, it may affect future chances as well,” said Sunita Dube.

Diagnosis:

To diagnose molar pregnancy, a blood test is done that checks the level of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in your blood. “A hydatidiform mole occurs when the tissue that would typically form the placenta around the fertilised egg creates an aberrant lump inside the uterus instead,” she added.