Ectopic Pregnancy

Last week I lost a very good friend of mine to an ectopic pregnancy. I had heard about the condition, however, I really didn't know enough to understand how one day my friend was posting "OMG the pregnancy test is positive!" on Facebook to passing away a couple days later. Still the situation is hard for me to understand. That is why I decided to do research on the subject to help women become aware of the signs and how fast they should see a doctor in order to save their life.

According to Google Health, an ectopic pregnancy is an abnormal pregnancy that occurs outside the womb (uterus). The baby cannot survive. This came as a shocker to me being that I thought all babies were fertilized in the womb. However, with an ectopic pregnancy the egg can be fertilized outside of the womb or in the fallopian tubes, stomach area, or cervix.

An ectopic pregnancy can be caused when the egg is moving too slowly through the fallopian tubes, causing conception to take place there. This can cause the tube to rupture and burst causing the mother to lose blood.

During an ectopic pregnancy the baby continues to grow outside of the womb and as this occurs the organ supporting the baby will burst and can cause the mother to bleed to death very quickly. I am sad to say that this happened to my friend. These types of pregnancies do not go to full term causing a live birth.

Signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy may be difficult to detect. As with early pregnancy symptoms, many of the symptoms are the same with an ectopic. Breast tenderness, missed period, nausea, vomiting, and frequent urination are signs, however, with ectopic pregnancies a woman may begin to feel extremely sharp pain in the pelvis, abdomen, or in more severe cases in the shoulder or neck due to a rupture causing irritation of nerves through the body.

Following these symptoms a woman will begin to have vaginal bleeding, dizziness or fainting, low blood pressure, and severe back pain. If any of these things occur, it is vital that you get to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. One moment can be too late.

Once in the emergency room, the doctor will need to diagnose you. You will have to give urine in order to determine your pregnancy. If the test is positive you will be given an hCG test or a human chorionic gonadotrophin test, which is a blood test that tests the hormones produced by the placenta. If these hormones are low, it is possible that you are having an ectopic pregnancy. After being tested, your doctor will want to give you an ultrasound to make sure the baby is in the uterus or try to discover where the fetus could be growing. If the doctor is unable to find the baby, they will continue to monitor your hormone levels over the course of every couple of days.

If it is discovered that you are having an ectopic pregnancy, there are treatments that will help cure you. For example, the doctor may inject you with a dose of methotrexate, a drug that will help stop the fetus' growth. If you are further along, your only option may be to have the fetus surgically removed. This involves in incision in the abdomen and then the baby is removed from wherever it is located.

The pregnancy can also be removed using laparoscopy which is less harsh of a procedure than surgery. This procedure is when a doctor makes small cuts or incisions in the abdomen and sends a tiny video camera through the incisions, the fetus is then removed once found and organs and tissue repaired.

Ectopic pregnancies are scary and dangerous, however, with the right knowledge; a woman can potentially save her life by recognizing the signs. I hope this article was of some benefit to you God willing, I know that it was for me.

Resources

http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/
pregnancy/ectopic.html#

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Ectopic+pregnancy