- Fibroids
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I knew about the fibroid before I was pregnant.
It was 2cm in diameter. Small enough that it hadn’t caused problems. Small enough that it wasn’t the first thing on my mind when I saw a positive pregnancy test.
By the end of my first trimester, the same trimester in which I had already lost 10 kilograms from severe pregnancy sickness, it had grown to 13cm.
It stayed at 13 centimetres for the rest of my pregnancy.
At 23 weeks, an ultrasound showed a partial placental detachment. My OB/GYN ordered immediate bed rest. He told me he was targeting 32 weeks, the point at which a baby’s lungs reach a level of maturity that gives them a fighting chance outside the womb. Any weeks beyond 32 were described to me as bonus weeks.
I gave birth at 39 weeks.
Contractions started naturally. But I ended up with a C-section, because my fibroid was blocking the correct alignment of my baby’s head in the birth canal. The same fibroid that had been 2 centimetres when my pregnancy began was, in the end, the reason my birth didn’t go the way I had planned.
I’m sharing all of this because when I was searching for information during those months, I found a lot of clinical language and not many real stories. And the question I needed answering wasn’t just “what are fibroids”, it was what does this actually mean for my pregnancy, week by week, from here to wherever this ends.
What a Uterine Fibroid Actually Is
A uterine fibroid, also called a leiomyoma or myoma, is a non-cancerous growth made from muscle and fibrous tissue that develops in or around the uterus. They are extremely common. Many women have them without ever knowing, because they cause no symptoms and are only discovered incidentally on an ultrasound done for something else entirely.
Fibroids vary enormously. One woman may have a single small fibroid. Another may have several. They can develop in different positions relative to the uterine wall, within the muscle itself (intramural), projecting toward the outside of the uterus (subserosal), or growing toward or into the uterine cavity (submucosal). That last type, and fibroids positioned directly behind the placenta, tend to be most associated with pregnancy complications.
Mine was a single fibroid. And when I was first told about it, the conversation was mostly about size.
What I later understood was that location mattered just as much.
From 2cm to 13cm: What Fibroid Growth During Pregnancy Can Mean
Fibroids can change during pregnancy. They exist in a hormonal environment very different from normal, oestrogen and progesterone levels rise significantly, and some fibroids respond to that by growing.
Mine grew dramatically. From 2 cm to 13 cm in the first trimester alone. Then it stopped, and remained at 13 centimetres for the rest of the pregnancy.
I don’t tell you this to frighten you. Not every fibroid behaves this way. Growth patterns vary enormously between women, and a fibroid that grows significantly in the first trimester doesn’t necessarily keep growing.
But this is also why monitoring matters. If a fibroid is identified early in pregnancy, following its size and position, and critically, its relationship to your placenta as the placenta develops, gives your team useful information that a single early scan cannot provide.
The Moment Everything Changed: 23 Weeks
At 23 weeks pregnant, an ultrasound showed that my placenta had partially detached.
Part of my placenta had implanted over the fibroid. Research indicates that fibroids located behind the placenta, called retroplacental fibroids, are among those most associated with an increased risk of placental abruption. Larger fibroids also carry greater risk in certain circumstances. I had both: a large fibroid, and a placenta positioned in relation to it.
Placental abruption means the placenta begins separating from the uterine wall before the baby is born. It is serious. A partial abruption, which is what I experienced, means the separation is incomplete. But “partial” doesn’t mean minor. It means the placenta is no longer fully attached, and the pregnancy needs careful monitoring and management. Any effort, shock or bump, could have serious consequences.
I was told to stop. No work. No normal life. Rest, immediately and completely.
And then came the sentence I have never forgotten.
My OB/GYN told me he was targeting 32 weeks. That was the gestational age at which my baby’s lungs would reach the maturity needed to survive outside the womb. Every week beyond 32 would be a bonus.
I was 23 weeks pregnant. That meant nine weeks stood between where I was and the bare minimum. I had never thought about weeks in those terms before.
What Bed Rest Actually Felt Like
People hear “bed rest” and they imagine something peaceful. Lying down, reading, being looked after.
That is not what medically recommended rest during a complicated pregnancy feels like.
It feels like fear, sustained over weeks. You lie still and become hyperaware of every sensation in your body. You have enormous amounts of time to think, and because you are frightened, your thoughts go to the worst places. You search online for terms you wish you hadn’t learned. You calculate weeks obsessively. You feel guilty every time you stand up to use the bathroom.
You also feel guilty for struggling with it. Because you are supposed to be grateful. Because at least the baby is okay. Because other women have it worse.
I want to say this clearly: two things can be true at once. You can be profoundly grateful that your baby is still growing and still be terrified. You can love your pregnancy and find a complicated pregnancy an almost unbearable experience. You are not failing at gratitude because you are afraid.
I also want to be precise about something medically. Routine bed rest is not a standard recommendation for preventing preterm birth or managing pregnancy complications. Current evidence does not support it as a general intervention, and prolonged inactivity carries its own risks, including blood clots and physical deconditioning. My activity restriction was part of my individual pregnancy management based on my specific situation. It is not advice to put yourself on bed rest if you have a fibroid. If your healthcare provider recommends restricting activity, ask exactly what that means for you, what is permitted, what to avoid, what symptoms mean you go directly to hospital.
32 Weeks. Then 33. Then 39.
I reached 32 weeks.
And then I kept going.
I reached 33 weeks, which felt impossible when I had been told 32 was the target. Then 34. Then the anxiety shifted from “will I make it” to a quieter, more disbelieving kind of waiting.
I gave birth at 39 weeks.
Contractions started on their own. My body was ready. My baby was ready. And then bam, the fibroid, the same one that had defined so much of my pregnancy, intervened one final time.
It was blocking the birth canal. My baby could not align properly for a vaginal delivery. I had a C-section.
I had spent months hoping for a natural birth. I had come so far from the conversation about 32 weeks. And in the end, the birth itself was shaped by the fibroid too.
I didn’t grieve the C-section for long. I had my baby at 39 weeks. The same OB/GYN who had told me he was targeting 32 weeks delivered a healthy baby at 39. That is the ending to my fibroid pregnancy story and I don’t take it lightly.
But I share the birth detail because it is the part nobody discusses. Fibroids can affect more than pregnancy monitoring. Their position and size can affect how your baby descends in labour. A fibroid low in the uterus or blocking the cervical opening can obstruct the path a baby needs to take. This is not a reason to assume you will need a C-section. It is a reason to have that conversation with your OB/GYN later in pregnancy, not after contractions start.
What to Ask When You’re Told You Have a Fibroid During Pregnancy
Knowing what I know now, “you have a fibroid” is only the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it.
Ask your healthcare provider: Where exactly is my fibroid? How large is it? Is it a single fibroid or multiple? Where has my placenta implanted and is any part of it near or over the fibroid? Does its position change how my pregnancy should be monitored? Could it affect my baby’s growth or position? Could its location affect labour and delivery? What symptoms should send me straight to hospital? Is there anything I should avoid or restrict?
Those questions turn a diagnosis into a plan.
What You Cannot Do Nutritionally to Shrink a Fibroid During Pregnancy
I need to be direct about this, because there is a great deal of misinformation online, including in wellness spaces I respect.
Pregnancy is not the time to attempt fibroid-shrinking protocols. You will find herbal teas, supplements, detoxes and anti-inflammatory regimes marketed specifically for fibroid reduction. Some of these products are positioned as natural and therefore safe. They are not automatically safe during pregnancy and the risk-benefit equation during pregnancy is completely different from outside it.
The goal during a fibroid pregnancy is not to eliminate the fibroid. It is to support your health, monitor the pregnancy appropriately, and manage complications if they occur.
What nutrition can do, genuinely and meaningfully, is support your overall wellbeing. If you have experienced any bleeding, iron matters. Include iron-rich foods consistently: meat, eggs, lentils, beans, dark leafy vegetables. Pair plant-based iron with vitamin C to improve absorption. If your blood tests show anaemia, discuss treatment with your provider rather than relying on food alone.
Protein, fibre and adequate hydration support your body through a pregnancy that may already be demanding more from it than you expected. In the Mauritian climate, staying hydrated requires consistent attention, not occasional large glasses of water, but regular small amounts throughout the day.
Continue whatever supplements your maternity team has recommended. And if your team recommends iron supplementation, take it.
When to Seek Urgent Help
If you are pregnant and have fibroids, particularly if your placenta is positioned near your fibroid, know the symptoms that require immediate medical assessment.
Seek urgent care for: vaginal bleeding, significant or worsening abdominal pain, pelvic pain that is severe or persistent, frequent contractions, fluid leaking from the vagina, faintness or severe dizziness, fever or feeling acutely unwell, or, later in pregnancy, a noticeable reduction in your baby’s movements.
Do not try to assess at home whether bleeding or pain is significant. Contact your maternity team and let them assess.
A fibroid does not mean your placenta will detach. But it means you should know the signs and act quickly if they appear.
What My Fibroid Pregnancy Taught Me
My fibroid was 2 cm when I became pregnant. It was 13 cm by the end of my first trimester. It never changed after that, but my entire pregnancy was shaped by its presence, its location, and its relationship to my placenta.
I spent weeks on bed rest, afraid, counting toward a target of 32 weeks. I gave birth at 39. And in the end, the fibroid that had grown six times its original size was the reason my baby arrived by C-section rather than the birth I had planned.
What I learned, and what I want you to take from my story if you are facing a fibroid pregnancy, is that the question is never simply “how big is it?”
It is: where is it? Where is my placenta? What does that mean for how my pregnancy should be monitored? What should I watch for? What does my team need to know?
A fibroid diagnosis does not define your pregnancy outcome. Mine was significant, in size, in complications, in what it required of me. And I still gave birth to a healthy baby at 39 weeks.
Ask the right questions. Stay close to your healthcare team. Report symptoms. And resist the urge to read your future from someone else’s fibroid story online because their fibroid is not in the same place as yours, and their placenta is not your placenta.
Your pregnancy deserves to be understood on its own terms.
Continue Reading on Nutura
Managing a Difficult Pregnancy: Hyperemesis, Bed Rest, and Finding Support
The fibroid wasn’t the first challenge my pregnancy brought. During my first trimester I lost approximately 10 kilograms from severe pregnancy sickness and I resisted medication until I couldn’t anymore. In the companion article I share what hyperemesis actually feels like, what changed when I had to accept an injection I didn’t want, and what supported me through the hardest weeks.
Nutura is a maternal and infant wellness platform specialising in nutrition, breastfeeding and baby sleep, founded in Mauritius by a mother whose pregnancy looked nothing like she expected, and who built something useful from it. Browse our resources at nutura.org.