Ectopic Pregnancy: Symptoms and What to Do

Ectopic pregnancy is a real issue in women and so many don't even know that they have had at least one if not several. My mother had a few that she never found out about until she had her hysterectomy later in life. Here are some signs that may point to this and what an ectopic pregnancy is.

Ectopic actually means "out of place" so you technically have a fertilized egg that is not where it should be. Most of the time where this ectopic pregnancy ends up is your fallopian tubes, so your egg just didn't have the ability to get to the uterus. However the egg can also be in the ovary, cervix, and abdomen. Most of the time an ectopic pregnancy does not end up with the baby surviving, and because in other area such as your fallopian tubes it is not made to care for and have as many nutrients as your uterus, a lot of times the fetus will never even grow. However there are times where the baby will grow no matter where they are, which means you are in danger because there is just not enough room in any other area for your baby to grow. There are symptoms to watch out for if you think this may have happened to you.

Symptoms for ectopic pregnancy can include dizziness, light headedness, vaginal spotting, usually lower blood pressure, stomach pain, and lastly back pain. Most of the symptoms are caused by blood loss because your body just cannot contain a baby anywhere but your uterus. You actually may never know that you have had an ectopic pregnancy, my mother after her hysterectomy was told she had several in her fallopian tubes but they just had never developed. Just remember not to take consistent abdomen pain lightly, it may not be ectopic pregnancy but if something is consistently hurting there it still is usually something that needs to be taken care of.

With ectopic pregnancies you can have children again usually however it is really dependent on what actually caused the problem in the first place. If there is swelling in your fallopian tubes it may happen again, or if you have Endometriosis this could stop future pregnancies as well. However a lot of the times they can give you medication to help each of these issues as long as you know.

Lastly just remember that if you are having any kind of bleeding after finding that you are pregnant, call the doctor. Some women just have this issue and it means nothing but it does not hurt to check, and if you do not catch an ectopic pregnancy in time your fallopian tube could rupture. However if you want children and the doctor advises that it is fine then keep trying, my mom did and had my brother and I without any issues.