Love and Hip-Hop star Rah Ali recently opened up about the heartbreaking late-term miscarriage that she experienced while five months pregnant this past May. Speaking to People, the reality star admitted that she began experiencing abdominal cramps in the morning, but thought it was just a normal pregnancy symptom and no cause for alarm.
However, as the pain got worse throughout the day, Ali finally decided she needed medical attention. “I called my husband and he rushed home,” she explained. “The ambulance came and they took me to the hospital. That’s when they told me that my cervix was completely open and that my water had broken."
At the hospital, the celebrity was forced to go into labour, though the doctors told her there was only a slim chance her daughter would survive outside the womb at only 20-weeks. Her daughter, whom she and her husband named Sanaa, passed away moments after the delivery. “I held her […] and she slept in the room with us until the morning when they took her away. I felt like I lost my soul,” Ali said of the painful moments following the birth.
Ali added that she’s received countless supportive messages from fans via social media and has found comfort in hearing stories from other women. “Every single day, I would get up and feel her kicking and I would talk to her,” she explained of the bond she developed with her unborn baby girl. “Not like a baby, but like a person. I would say, ‘What are we eating this morning?’ Or, ‘Okay, you’re getting agitated and feisty. I know you’re hungry and I’m going to eat something.’” She added, “Our bond was so strong. Maybe because God knew I would never be able to experience it … I just felt so connected to her.”
Late-term miscarriages occur when the fetus passes between 14 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. According to March of Dimes, anywhere between 10 to 15 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriages, yet only 5 percent pregnancies result in late-term miscarriages. There are a variety of reasons a late-term miscarriage may occur, including chromosomal problems or issues with the uterus or cervix. In most cases, miscarriages are impossible to predict and nothing could be done to prevent it.