When Michelle Hui was
told she had lost her baby in a miscarriage after six weeks of
pregnancy, her world descended into a nightmarish blur.
After
enduring five separate scans to confirm the devastating news, she was
given abortion drugs to prevent any infection in her body.
Mrs Hui was then told she had potentially dangerous blood clots in her womb and would have to have surgery to remove them.
Miracle baby: Michelle Hui, pictured
with her 18-week-old baby Megan who she didn't know she was pregnant
with, after suffering a miscarriage and taking abortion pills
Kisses! When Michelle went in for an operation
on her uterus, doctors found a heartbeat. Megan Hui was born in February
weighing just under 6lbs and is now thriving at 18 weeks old
But as doctors prepared to perform this final procedure, a scan picked up a tiny heartbeat.
The
astonished medical team told Mrs Hui that her baby had managed to
survive both the miscarriage and the abortion pills – and she could
continue with the pregnancy.
They said she had been pregnant with twins, and while one baby died, the other had clung on to life.
The blood clots could have created shadows on the scan images, obscuring the surviving foetus from view, doctors said.
In February Mrs Hui, 31, and her husband Ross, 33, welcomed their ‘miracle’ daughter Megan into the family.
Weighing a healthy six pounds, she has continued to thrive at home with her sister Mya, four, and brother Noah, two.
The family have since been told that Megan’s story is so extraordinary that it has been written up in medical journals.
Mrs
Hui said: ‘The miscarriage and abortion were absolutely horrific. The
ten days between the miscarriage and going back to the hospital were
just a blur.
‘But
then I saw this little heartbeat. I thought it couldn’t be right. After
all we had been through, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. The doctor
went out and came back in with a more senior doctor and he did the scan
again and he said, “You are not going to believe it, we’ve got a
heartbeat”. It was the best feeling ever.
‘Now
Megan is fine. She is just a big healthy pudding of a baby. The doctors
said it was a blessing. They have never heard of anything like it.
Someone had been looking over us.’
She was six weeks pregnant when she began bleeding as she walked to work, and feared she was suffering a miscarriage.
She went to hospital where two different doctors had carried out five scans before concluding she had lost her baby.
She
was given two abortion drugs – known as a medical abortion because it
does not involve surgery – to prompt her womb to expel the dead foetus
to prevent any infection.
Further
tests showed there were blood clots in her womb so doctors prepared to
perform a surgical procedure to remove them – until a scan showed
Megan’s heartbeat.
Bundle of joy: 'She is fine, she is healthy and
she is just a big healthy pudding of a baby,' says Michelle Hui of her
18-week old baby Megan, pictured here
Beautiful baby: Megan Hui, 18 weeks old, is known as a miracle baby after her twin died in a miscarriage but she survived
Although
the case is rare, medical abortions have a higher failure rate than
surgical terminations – up to 14 in every 1,000, although some studies
suggest it could be as high as 4 per cent.
And in one in 100 cases, the womb is not entirely cleared and further medical intervention is necessary.
Mrs
Hui, of Co Kildare, Ireland, told the Sunday Mirror she was angry that
doctors at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin had failed to spot the
surviving foetus before they prescribed the abortion drugs, which carry
an increased risk of birth defects to any surviving baby.
She
said: ‘As happy as I was, I was angry they had missed her on the scans.
They said with all the blood and clots it must have created shadows so
they couldn’t see her.’
Katherine
Hales, a spokesman from the Association of Radical Midwives, which
campaigns for improved maternity care in the NHS, said it was an
‘extraordinary case’.
She said: ‘I have very, very occasionally heard of rare cases of a miscarriage of one baby, and then seeing another on the scan.
‘But I have never heard of this happening. I can’t think of a medical reason for it to happen – it is just luck.’
The Rotunda Hospital was unavailable for comment.
Happy family: Michelle and Ross Hui with baby
Megan and children Mya, four, and Noah, two, in their hometown of
Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland
Bond: 'We were always a strong family, but to be
honest it has just made us stronger,' says Michelle, pictrued here with
husband Ross, baby Megan and children Noah and Mya
Scan: The miracle image confirming Megan's beating heart, from 16 September 2013
Heartbeat: 'As happy as I was, I was angry they
had missed her on previous scans,' says Michelle. 'They said my cervix
must have closed back up'
Siblings: Michelle, pictrued here with children
(L-R) Noah, Megan and Mya, say they all love each other: 'Mya loves
playing with Megan and Noah is still a little bit young, but he loves
her too'
Mother and daughter: Delighted mother Michelle cradles her daughter Megan
Ordeal: 'The miscarriage and abortion were
absolutely horrific,' says bank-worker Michelle, pictured here with
Megan. 'To find out I had to go in for another procedure, I was
devastated, but then I saw this little heartbeat'
