A mum suffered extreme pain two years after giving birth with a bizarre complication that only affects five percent of pregnancies.
When Bethany Girardi gave birth to her second baby, Ezra, in 2021, she felt it was one of the happiest moments of her life.
That was until she suffered for two years following, with doctors baffled by the cause.
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One day she made her own discovery, and it’s almost unheard of.
During her pregnancy, Bethany was bedridden for several weeks, which could be explained by the complications further down the line.
Talking to 7NEWS.com.au she said: “It was a very difficult pregnancy.”
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After labour, the placenta usually separates from the uterus and passes, but this didn’t go according to plan for Bethany.
Even with a medical injection, the placenta was not moving, which resulted in her having to have it surgically removed.
Some days later, Bethany was sent home to navigate her new life as a mum-of-two with her husband James.
Six weeks later, she was still in immense amounts of pain.
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She said: “I [was] just feeling really sick still.
“The nausea had never really gone away, but it started to ramp up again.
“I had pelvic pain and pelvic instability the same way I did when I was pregnant.
“I went downhill very rapidly.”
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Based on the advice from her doctor, she ended up taking multiple pregnancy tests, despite being insistent that she could not be pregnant.
She added: “I’m like, ‘I really can’t be pregnant, but I’m getting all these pregnancy symptoms.’”
While at home in December 2022, she started to feel ‘labour cramping’, which lasted two hours before she passed ‘a two-inch by eight-inch piece of material’.
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It was, in fact, the rest of the placenta which should have been removed at the birth of her second child.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Steve Robson said: “We probably see it in about five [per]cent of births where it subsequently comes to light that there’s a little bit of placental tissue left behind, and often it will present because a woman will continue to have bleeding or something like that goes on for weeks.”
When the placenta is still attached after birth, it produces pregnancy hormones, so when it came away her milk started to come in again.
After ultrasounds found that after this experience there were still parts remaining, Bethany was diagnosed with fibromyalgia - a condition that causes body pain and muscle stiffness.
In a statement to 7NEWS.com.au, the private Melbourne hospital said: “We cannot comment publicly on our patient’s personal or medical information due to confidentiality.
“We are happy to discuss with her any concerns that she may have and wish her well in her recovery.”
Topics: Parenting, Health, Mental Health
Mia Williams