A Doha-based couple has expressed gratitude to Al Wakra Hospital’s (AWH) Obstetrics and Gynaecology’s Bereavement Clinic staff, for providing them with high quality care and necessary emotional support when the wife was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and lost their one-month old baby, their first after five years of marriage.

The couple was devastated by the news of their loss, but the professional intervention of the Bereavement Clinic helped them heal and their hopes of having another baby soon were renewed with their follow-up appointment at the hospital’s Infertility Clinic.

The couple will now receive follow-up care from Dr Lolwa Alansari, AWH’s chief of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Division and senior consultant Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Endocrinology.

“It was in July 2019 when my wife became pregnant for the first time after five years of our marriage. We were both excited. However, this hope was shattered when my wife was diagnosed at a private hospital to be carrying an ectopic pregnancy one month later,” recalled the husband.

He said that after the diagnosis, his wife was referred to Al Wakra Hospital, where she was seen by a specialist at the Emergency Department. “This period was very difficult for us because I had to urgently travel to my home country, India, because my mother was admitted to the intensive care unit due to a serious medical condition. During the two days that I spent in India, my wife was able to cope well, and she was supported by Al Wakra Hospital’s team throughout,” the husband stated.

I spoke to her doctor from India and I was told her condition was critical and that she needed to undergo urgent surgery to remove her fallopian tube because of the ectopic pregnancy. I agreed with the doctor and the surgery was done before I flew back to Doha that same day. The surgery was successful, but we lost the baby. Despite all, we were consoled and given hopes that we could still have our own child, but we would need some support of the Infertility Treatment Unit at AWH,” he recounted.

The couple appreciated the team of doctors and nurses from AWH’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology unit, especially Dr Albert Opoku, consultant Obstetrics and Gynaecology and clinical nurse specialist in Public Health, Sara Brito for providing them with professional, emotional and moral support throughout their grieving process and for giving them hopes of becoming parents in the future. “The bereavement session conducted by Brito really helped my wife to overcome the shock of losing the baby. We are very thankful to her.”

Dr Opoku explains that an ectopic pregnancy can't proceed normally. The fertilised egg can't survive, and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding, if left untreated. “Pregnancy begins with a fertilised egg. Normally, the fertilised egg attaches to the lining of the uterus. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus,” he explains.

According to him, an ectopic pregnancy most often occurs in a fallopian tube, which carries eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. “This type of ectopic pregnancy is called a tubal pregnancy. Sometimes, an ectopic pregnancy occurs in other areas of the body, such as the ovary, abdominal cavity or the lower part of the uterus (cervix),” he adds.

In the case of the patient, he explains that she had an ectopic pregnancy which occurs in her fallopian tube and there was no way the baby could have survived, hence the need to carry out the surgery immediately in order to prevent complications and save the mother.