Blighted ovum — when the ultrasound shows no baby

IT’S one of those things that can really crush your spirits when you are trying to have a baby — you miss a period, your pregnancy test returns positive, you suffer morning sickness, yet when it’s time to do the ultrasound, there is no baby… just an empty sac.

“It’s absolutely devastating, even if you weren’t really trying to get pregnant,” shared Janine, 31, who carried a blighted ovum for 12 weeks in 2018, thinking she was about to have her second child. “It was a surprise pregnancy, to be honest, but my husband and I warmed up to the idea almost immediately, and we started making plans. But at the check-up the doctor said she didn’t hear a heartbeat…”

Janine and her husband were referred to have an ultrasound done, where she heard the term ‘blighted ovum’ being used for the first time.

Consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr Jordan Hardie explains to All Woman that a blighted ovum is a complication of pregnancy that most commonly presents within the first trimester.

“It is also called an anembryonic gestation, and it occurs when a gestational sac is formed, but no foetus develops within it,” he says.

He adds that a blighted ovum is usually masked as a regular pregnancy, because in many ways you really are pregnant, and your body behaves that way.

“Initially, there may be no signs that the pregnancy may not be a normal pregnancy. Many patients will present with first trimester vaginal bleeding, which may also be associated with abdominal pain. This is usually detected between the eighth and 13th weeks of pregnancy.”

Whether patients have these symptoms or not, however, this type of pregnancy will be discovered at routine check-ups, the doctor says.

“A blighted ovum is most commonly diagnosed by an ultrasound,” he explains. “On ultrasound, the gestational sac will be seen with no foetus within it.”

Treatment will depend on the clinical status of the patient, he notes.

“Some patients, if they are stable, may expel the products of conception without intervention,” Dr Hardie says. “Patients who have not completely expelled the products of conception and are clinically stable may be given medication to expedite the process. Patients who are not clinically stable or do not desire medication may have a minor surgical procedure to have the products of conception removed.”

Although there was no foetal growth, a blighted ovum is still considered to be a loss of pregnancy, and can understandably take a toll on your emotional well-being. Dr Hardie recommends that you speak with your doctor openly about how you feel about the recommended treatment options, so that you can take the best one.

If you are trying to have a baby, a blighted ovum does not dim your chances of pregnancy. Dr Hardie encourages that you can still have a perfectly normal pregnancy.

“No one is really sure what causes the foetus to not grow in some instances, but this is definitely not an indication that anything is wrong with you. You can have a normal pregnancy after having a blighted ovum,” he says.