Prince Edward's wife leaves hospital after losing baby

LONDON (AP) _ Saying she was feeling much better, Prince Edward's wife Sophie left the hospital Monday after losing the couple's first child in a tubal pregnancy. <br><br>Sophie spoke to reporters

Monday, December 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ Saying she was feeling much better, Prince Edward's wife Sophie left the hospital Monday after losing the couple's first child in a tubal pregnancy.

Sophie spoke to reporters as she left London's King Edward VII hospital at lunchtime, accompanied by her 37-year-old husband, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth. Wearing a beige trouser suit and clutching a bouquet of pink and white flowers, she smiled at onlookers, but looked uncomfortable.

The 36-year-old Countess of Wessex underwent emergency surgery on Thursday after doctors diagnosed an ectopic, or tubal, pregnancy, a potentially dangerous condition in which the fetus develops outside the uterus, often in a Fallopian tube. The condition can cause great pain and blood loss.

Such pregnancies rarely last beyond the first trimester.

It was not known how long Sophie had been pregnant, and Buckingham Palace released no details of the surgery.

Sophie has expressed sadness at losing the baby but says there will be other chances for the couple to conceive. They married on June 19, 1999.