Sometimes babies really are born out of love — almost literally. That’s because for a small group of women, their baby bump takes the shape of a heart, instead of your garden variety beach ball. At least that is the case for one woman in Turkey.
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Gala Caldirola, a Spanish model and reality TV star who lives in Istanbul with her husband, soccer player Mauricio Isla, posted a picture to Instagram earlier this month showing her growing belly that looks like a heart. It has since gone viral and accrued over 80,000 likes.
What Caldirola has is called a bicornuate uterus, which means unlike a normal uterus that has a T-shape, hers dips in the middle creating two horns and taking on a heart shape. It is estimated that of the three per cent of women who are born with a uterine abnormality, a bicornuate uterus is the most common.
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In many cases, a bicornuate uterus doesn’t cause complications and most women don’t even know they have one unless they have an ultrasound. However, some women do report irregular bleeding, painful periods, repeated miscarriages, abdominal discomfort and pain during sex.
Complications in pregnancy
“We don’t make any special recommendations for women with a bicornuate uterus,” says Dr. Deborah Robertson, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at St. Michael’s Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. “Compared to the general population, there is a slight increase of pregnancy loss, of preterm birth and the baby being in an incorrect correct birthing position. But the outcomes are pretty similar to those of a woman with a normal uterus.”
Although a bicornuate uterus does not affect fertility, a study published in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynaecology in 2011, found that these uterine abnormalities (also called unification defects) were associated with increased rates of preterm birth, miscarriage and fetal malpresentation at delivery. Some research suggests that women with a bicornuate uterus are four times more likely to have a baby with birth defects.
In general, women with a bicornuate uterus do not require surgery to repair it.