CHENNAI: After eight months of treating for pregnancy, government doctors told a woman that she's only been carrying a cyst and not a baby.
For Hasheena Begum (28), from Kannagi Nagar, it has come as a shock. Seven years into her marriage, a Urine Pregnancy Test in April at the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Triplicane showed positive results.
The Estimated Date of Delivery (EDD) was written as 18 November on her ruled notebook that serves as medical records.
However, when she visited the hospital three days after her EDD, she was told that she was never pregnant and was only carrying a cyst. "I didn't have a baby for seven years. I thought this was it. I even celebrated my Baby shower," said Hasheena as she hands out a picture of herself in blue silk saree and jewellery embracing her bulged belly.
"In three per cent of the cases, the urine pregnancy test could go wrong and hers would've been one of that," said Dr Vijaya S, Gynecologist of the hospital, after Hasheena had paid nearly a dozen visits. "I think she had psuedocyesis. It is a condition where the person believes she's pregnant, when she's actually not," she added.
However, even after eight months of diagnosis, there are no records of an Ultrasound test in the medical records, while the patient claims that she's done a handful of scans after her pregnancy test turned positive.
The doctors guess that she must've left the premises each time after checking only basics such as weight and blood pressure without finishing her scan.
"The doctors may not have known if she left without doing the scan because the hospital is over-crowded," the doctor said.
"Nearly 600 deliveries happen here every month and our maternal mortality rate is really low. There's barely a chance that we've missed an ultrasound on a patient like this," she added.
Hasheena also has Poly-Cystic Ovary Disorder (PCOD) and a cyst was removed from her abdomen this January. However, rarely does the condition stop menstrual cycle, especially for months.
The doctors have decided to enquire further into the case. Meanwhile they have promised Hasheena to treat her for a year.