Pune: Doctors at Sahyadri Hospitals' MomStory successfully performed a rare and complex uterus-preserving surgery on a 36-year-old woman from Cameroon. The procedure offers her the possibility of future pregnancy despite a life-threatening condition following a miscarriage.
Ms Gladys Morielle Nguedia Ndadem, a teacher from Cameroon, was facing a life-threatening condition after a miscarriage during her second trimester earlier this year.
Following the miscarriage, part of the placenta remained inside her uterus, a condition known as retained placenta, which caused severe bleeding, also referred to as post-abortion haemorrhage.
Her medical history revealed that her first pregnancy had also been complicated, ending in an incomplete abortion at 16 weeks due to endometriosis and pelvic inflammation.
According to the doctors, complications from that first pregnancy may have contributed to the severe outcomes she experienced during the second.
Back in Cameroon, her condition worsened. She suffered heavy bleeding, went into shock, and was hospitalized multiple times. Over the course of her treatment there, she underwent 18 blood transfusions.
Doctors eventually advised her to undergo a hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus, as the only option to manage her condition. However, Ms Gladys, who has never had children, sought an alternative that could preserve her fertility.
She traveled to India and consulted Dr Supriya Puranik, Director of Obstetrics-Gynecology and IVF at Sahyadri Hospitals MomStory, Shivajinagar, Pune. Dr Puranik, known for managing complex gynecological cases, led a multidisciplinary team in planning and performing the surgery.
On April 19, 2025, the team performed a detailed surgical procedure. This included laparotomy with adhesiolysis to address internal scarring, bilateral internal iliac and uterine artery ligation to minimize bleeding risk, hysterectomy to remove infected, necrotic placental tissue, and myomectomy to remove multiple uterine fibroids.
Considering the patient’s desire to conceive in the future, the team also performed abdominal cervical encirclage, a surgical stitch to prevent miscarriages due to cervical weakness, and reconstructed the uterus to restore normal anatomy.
"This was one of the most challenging cases I’ve handled in my career. With a history of multiple failed surgeries, abnormal vascular connections, and placenta percreta, the risk of uncontrollable bleeding and uterine damage was extremely high. But we were determined to give Gladys a fighting chance at motherhood," said Dr Supriya Puranik.
Ms Gladys is now stable and recovering well. She has expressed deep gratitude to the Pune team for helping preserve her reproductive potential.
"Our goal at MomStory is to support every woman’s right to motherhood, even in the most challenging situations. And this is more than just a medical success for us. It is a story of courage, resilience and global hope," added Dr Puranik.
