All You Need To Know About Ectopic Pregnancy

As much as pregnancy brings us joy, it is also not always a delightful experience. There can be several complications in pregnancy. One such complication is an ectopic pregnancy. Once you go to a baby scan clinic, your doctor might be able to detect it early on but in most cases, you might not be able to know beforehand.

We all know that for pregnancy to happen, the ovary releases an egg into the fallopian tube where it comes into contact with a sperm to become fertilized. After that, the fertilized egg goes to the uterus after 3-4 days. But sometimes, this fertilized egg does not reach the uterus and implants in the fallopian tube or other parts of the abdomen. This is known as ectopic pregnancy. In such cases, the pregnancy can not be continued and would need to be terminated immediately by surgery.

Symptoms

 

Ectopic pregnancy is hard to detect most of the time. The early symptoms are exactly like a normal pregnancy, such as a missed period, fatigue, nausea, etc. But there are some severe symptoms like:

• You might feel severe lower belly pain, especially on one side.
• You might get severe nausea and vomit repeatedly.
• It also makes you feel very weak, tired, and dizzy all the time.
• You will experience severe pain in shoulders and neck too.
• If not detected early, your fallopian tube can rupture leading to severe bleeding.

Causes and risks

There is no right answer as to why ectopic pregnancy occurs. One cause might be a damaged fallopian tube which can prevent the fertilized egg to enter the uterus. Other than that, other reasons might be:

• Inflammation and scarring of the fallopian tubes from a previous medical condition, infection, or surgery.
• Abnormal growths or a birth defect that can be genetic can result in an abnormality in the fallopian tube’s shape.
• Sexually transmitted diseases.
• If you are trying to conceive through IVF.
• If your age is above 35.

Diagnosis

As mentioned before, if you are having early pregnancy signs, go to the baby scan clinic for a check-up, only then it can be detected whether your pregnancy is ectopic or uterine. The easiest and safest method to determine the same is ultrasound baby scan. Other than that it can be detected through blood tests, determining your hCG and progesterone levels. If they are lower than expected, you might have an ectopic pregnancy.

Treatment

The only treatment for ectopic pregnancy is its termination. There are two types of treatment, medication, and surgery.

Medication: If it gets detected early on, then the doctor would give you a drug named Methotrexate in the form of injection. This stops the growth of the rapidly dividing cells. If the medication is effective, you will have symptoms similar to a miscarriage.

Surgery: If your fallopian tube raptures, before being detected, then surgery is necessary. The most common surgery process is a laparoscopy.

An ectopic pregnancy occurs in 1 out of 50 pregnancies, which means it is rare. But if you suspect you have an ectopic pregnancy, consult your doctor and visit baby scan clinic immediately.