Polite Dissent

Fallen Angel #18 “Hurlyburly, conclusion”
Peter David, writer
David Lopez, penciler

As seems an all too common situation for women in comics, Lee is having a rough pregnancy. At the end of the previous issue, she was surprised in her home by Boxer and struck in the abdomen. She started bleeding and was brought to the emergency room by Boxer before he fled.

A similar situation is shown in a flashback to Boxer’s youth, when his father beat his pregnant mother, causing her to lose the child she was carrying.

I have no complaints about the medicine in this issue; David does an excellent job. Blunt trauma is very dangerous to the developing fetus for several reasons. If the mother dies, then the baby is almost certain to. Maternal shock or blood loss can cut blood flow to the placenta, killing the fetus. The trauma can also have a direct effect on the fetus (more common in penetrating trauma than blunt trauma). However, the most common cause of fetal death after trauma is placental abruption.

Placental abruption occurs when the placenta rips away from the wall of the uterus. The classic symptoms of abruption are bleeding and severe abdominal pain. Depending on the extent of the abruption, the bleeding can be fatal for both the mother and fetus.

Boxer’s mother suffered a severe placental abruption due the beating inflicted by her husband. Her child did not survive. Studies show that physical abuse occurs in four to seventeen percent of pregnancies. Most women who were physically abused before pregnancy report an increase in abuse during pregnancy. Two-thirds of abused pregnant women seek medical treatment, but only 3% tell the doctor the cause of the injury.

Like Boxer’s mother, Lee also suffered an abruption due to abdominal trauma. The extent of Lee’s abruption is an integral part of the story, so I won’t spoil it here.

While we’re on comics by Peter David, let me point out that unlike another recent Marvel mutant title, Madrox #3 shows that David and penciler Pablo Raimondi know the anatomy of the hand. David’s also right about which fingers are easiest to break — at least in the manner he describes.