For the past three months, I’ve been hearing about ectopic pregnancy, but I never paid much attention to it because I didn’t see its importance. As humans, we often become interested in something when it directly affects us.
This past weekend, a close friend experienced an ectopic pregnancy, which seems to be increasingly common among women of childbearing age. This made me curious about what ectopic pregnancy is and what causes it.
Ectopic pregnancy is where the fertilized egg implants itself in the tissue outside the uterus and the most common place it implants is within the fallopian tube. After implantation, the egg starts developing.
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This type of pregnancy is dangerous because during the growth process of the egg, the fallopian tube can rupture causing internal bleeding that could lead to death if not known and treated early.
An ectopic pregnancy can be hard to point out this is due to your menstrual flow being present despite the pregnancy. Ways of knowing whether you have an ectopic pregnancy include;
When taking a pregnancy test, a woman undergoes an HCG test to determine if she is pregnant. HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) levels are typically elevated during pregnancy, making it a reliable indicator for pregnancy testing.
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Additionally, bleeding may indicate an ectopic pregnancy, requiring immediate medical attention, while having an ultrasound enables the doctor to locate the fetus.
Having an ultrasound done, enables your doctor to know where the fetus is placed.
Ectopic pregnancy has different causes such as the choice of birth control, fertility treatments infection, and tubal surgery. The pregnancy can last between six to sixteen weeks before the rupturing of the fallopian tube.
After the detection of an ectopic pregnancy, the usual course of action is to terminate its growth and remove it.
Unfortunately for my friend, her fallopian tube ruptured at only five weeks leading to her having an emergency C-section. She consequentially lost the left side of her fallopian.
