A private hospital has offered free corrective surgery for a mother left in pain for 10 months after medics stitched her too tightly after childbirth.

Erica Abela told Times of Malta how she is unable to have sex or undergo a smear test because she was “completely closed” by medics at Mater Dei.

However, she was told that her case is not a priority.

Saint James Hospital CEO Maria Bugeja said that after reading about the case, she wanted to help since “it is a very uncomfortable situation, which could be corrected easily”.

The team was happy to see the young mother immediately, but they needed to examine her first before anything could be decided, explained Medical Director Adrian Paul Vella.

Asked how much the surgery usually cost, he gave a very rough estimate of around €2,000. Erica said she was “in disbelief” at the offer for help. 

“I am really happy. I couldn’t believe Saint James Hospital offered to do it for free, because these procedures at private hospitals usually cost a lot of money,” she said.

She said she must discuss her rare heart condition with the hospital before she could consent but was hopeful she would undergo the surgery “as soon as possible”. 

I am really happy. I couldn’t believe St James offered to do it for free

Abela has Ebstein’s Anomaly, which makes surgery under general anaesthetic a risk – but one she is willing to take given the current situation she is in.

“I have been treated at Mater Dei for this heart condition for the last 10 years, and so I was hoping to do the surgery there since they have all my files, but my priority is also to get it done,” she said.

A gynaecologist, who preferred not to be named, explained to Times of Malta that while they didn’t come across cases such as Erica’s frequently, they did sometimes happen.

He said that when stitching up tears as a result of childbirth, there had to be a balance between stopping the bleeding and achieving a result which didn’t cause complications.

This was not always straightforward, especially if a woman had experienced a tough birth, he explained.

He said the type of surgery a woman would have to undergo to correct this kind of problem depending on the severity of the closure.

The long-term complications of not correcting something like this included painful periods, urinary infections and pain during intercourse, he added.

Abela herself has said her world had been upended and her hopes of adding to her family had been left in doubt.

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