For 28-year-old Shabana Siddiqui of Delhi, conception was proving to be impossible because of huge uterine fibroids (non-cancerous tumours that develop in the uterus). The many doctors she consulted advised that her uterus had to be removed. But a myomectomy or surgical removal of fibroids from the uterus performed at city-based Malathi Manipal Hospital, allowed her to retain her uterus and thus preserve her ability to conceive. On June 20, Shabana delivered a healthy baby boy.
Shabana's husband, Ashraf Ali told Deccan Chronicle: “About a week after our marriage, Shabana complained of some mass growth in her abdomen. We consulted several doctors and they told us that it will go away with medication. Years passed and the mass only increased. She used to conceive but within the seventh month she would develop complication and lose the baby. We lost three babies this way. When we asked doctors why this was happening, they said that because of the extra mass the baby failed to get proper space for growth.”
During a trip to Bengaluru, he read in a local paper that a 70-year-old woman had successfully undergone removal of her uterine fibroids at Malathi Manipal Hospital. He met Dr Kishore Kumtakar, who had done the surgery, and was told to bring all his wife’s papers and reports. “Shabana underwent myomectomy on May 2011 where around 36 fibroids weighing almost 6 kg were removed. The uterus was then reconstructed, so that she could conceive. Following which, after four-five months, she was able to conceive without any complication. She came to Bengaluru in the third month of her pregnancy, had regular antenatal check-ups and on June 20 she delivered a healthy baby boy weighing 2.9 kg through elective caesarian” said Dr Kumtakar, consultant gynaecologist at Malathi Manipal Hospital, who did the surgery on Shabana.