SYDNEY, Australia -- Officials say a woman in a northern Australian city gave birth to a healthy baby girl after a rare full-term ectopic pregnancy.
Meera Thangarajah had no symptoms or complications during her pregnancy, so doctors performing a routine Caesarean section Thursday were shocked to find that the baby had developed in the ovary rather than the uterus.
An ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg develops outside of the uterus, usually miscarries or is terminated by doctors because of the threat it can cause to the mother.
Hospital officials say baby Durga weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces, and both she and her mother are healthy.
Officials say the ectopic pregnancy didn't show up on a scan performed half-way through her term, and the mother displayed no unusual symptoms.
Experts say only 1 in 40,000 fertilizations implant in the ovary, and it is unheard of that one of those fetuses grow to full term.
"It is extremely rare," said Mark Erian, a specialist in high-risk obstetrics at the University of Queensland. "I have never seen a case that progresses until fetal viability. She was absolutely lucky to have the pregnancy progress."
