A pregnant American woman who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta will be airlifted to Spain on Thursday for a procedure to prevent infection because Maltese law prohibits abortion under any circumstances, the woman's partner said.
Jay Weeldreyer told The Associated Press by phone from a hospital in the island nation that his partner, Andrea Prudente, is at risk of a life-threatening infection if the fetal tissue isn't promptly removed.
Andrea Prudente, 38, who suffered an incomplete miscarriage while vacationing in Malta lies in her bed at the Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta, comforted by her partner Jay Weeldreyer, left, Thursday, June 23, 2022. Jay Weeldreyer / AP
Prudente, 38, experienced heavy bleeding on June 12, followed by a premature rupture of the amniotic sac and the separation of the placenta, according to Weeldreyer, 45. While the hospital is carefully monitoring her for any sign of infection, the facility cannot perform the surgery to complete the miscarriage, he said.
Malta is the only European Union member nation that outlaws abortions for any reason. Contacted by The AP, Mater Dei Hospital, where Prudente is being treated, said it wasn't allowed to give out patient information due to privacy regulations.
"The miscarriage is 80% complete,'' Weeldreyer said. "Her waters are broken, the placenta has separated, but because of a (fetal) heartbeat," the fetus cannot be removed, he said. In separate comments to other news outlets, the couple described the placenta as being partially detached.
Mater Dei Hospital, a public facility in Malta, declined to speak about the woman's medical condition, citing privacy restrictions.
The couple from Issaquah, Washington, a town near Seattle, arrived in Malta on June 5 for a long-awaited vacation. Prudente started bleeding and was hospitalized a week later, her partner said. He indicated she was 16 weeks pregnant when the bleeding began.
Along with the worrying about the infection risk, the two fear Prudente might resume hemorrhaging during the medical evacuation flight they have arranged for Thursday evening to take them to the Spain, where she will be admitted to a hospital.
Mater Dei Hospital "has done a good job within the realm of what they are allowed to do" under Maltese law, Weeldreyer said. The woman is receiving antibiotics and being closely monitored for signs of infection, he said.
towers_of_ilium on June 24th, 2022 at 02:58 UTC »
In comparison, I found out that my baby had no kidneys when I was 21 weeks pregnant. He wasn’t growing properly as there was very little fluid being produced, and he was never going to live for very long if he made it to term.
Luckily I live in Australia.
At 24 weeks, the government paid for me to fly 1000km to the best hospital. I met with a team of specialists and doctors, who took my case to a special board, who determined that baby wasn’t viable and the most humane thing would be to allow an induced birth/abortion.
I was booked into a private room, lovely nurses, and treated with the utmost compassion. When baby was born, we held him until he passed away. They then brought in a special chilled bassinet so we could stay with him for as long as we needed. There was no pressure to vacate the room or bed. There was a lady who was specifically there for mental support. She arranged handprint keepsakes, a special care package, flowers, and baby was cremated free of charge and returned to us. All this was carefully checked with us first to make sure it was what we wanted.
All we paid for was parking and snacks. There was no feelings of shame or of doing something wrong. It was still an incredibly traumatic time. My heart aches for women in other countries without access to this help.
kitty_o_shea on June 23rd, 2022 at 21:24 UTC »
These are the circumstances that led to the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland. The subsequent outrage was one of the factors that led to the eventual legalisation of abortion there.
Emergency-Distance-8 on June 23rd, 2022 at 20:55 UTC »
This is so stupid. It’s not like the baby is viable AT ALL.