‘Pregnant’ woman gives birth to cancerous tumour in hospital toilet

It should have been one of the happiest times of her life.

Lauren Knowles, from Australia, thought she was expecting her first child. But seven weeks in, she was horrified to discover her baby bump was actually a cancerous mass the size of a foetus at 17 weeks.

“There was no way that I thought it was cancer, but after I started bleeding, I had further tests when I was seven weeks pregnant,” Lauren (27) told Metro.

Doctors discovered Lauren had what is known as a molar pregnancy – a cluster of cells known as gestational trophoblastic disease – and quickly started chemotherapy.

The cancerous tissue was removed – but the tumour continued to grow.

When Lauren experienced excruciating stomach cramps, she felt the urge to “push” the cancerous mass out in the hospital toilets, according to The Mirror.

"The mass was the same size as a baby at 17 weeks so it was a big tumour to push out with no assistance,” Lauren, originally from Aberdeen in Scotland, told The Independent.

"A massive sense of relief came over me and I knew it was the end – I felt so thankful that the tumour was finally out of me."

Doctors warned her that she would have difficulty conceiving a child as the tumour had severely damaged her uterus. Fortunately, Lauren welcomed her daughter, Indi, a year later in Perth.

While she was pregnant with Indi she was in a perpetual state of panic. “My whole pregnancy I was terrified that it would be molar again, so I wasn’t able to enjoy the feeling of carrying a child,” she admitted.

“When we went to our first scan and saw the baby’s heart beat I couldn’t stop crying because I knew it was real.

“Indi was then born five-weeks early as an emergency C-section. She was absolutely perfect and I couldn’t believe I had actually had my dream second child, because I never thought it would happen.

“I want to give people hope that even in the worst scenarios, what seems impossible is still possible, whilst raising more awareness to molar pregnancy.”

^{Sources:
The Mirror, Metro UK, The Independent}

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