Ectopic Pregnancy

Kind of a crazy situation, this whole ectopic pregnancy thing. Basically, an ectopic pregnancy starts when an egg and sperm meet and an embryo starts to grow. Instead of attaching itself to the inside of the uterus, however, the embryo attaches someplace else. It can start growing in a uterine tube, an ovary, the cervix, or the abdomen.

As the embryo gets bigger, it runs out of room to grow. If it runs out of room in the uterine tube, the tube will rupture, causing a massive hemorrhage. Sometimes, the embryo can burst out of the tube and into the abdomen, where it has more space to grow, and it can actually grow to be a full-term baby! It is actually possible to grow a baby outside a uterus. See? Crazy. Of course, most times these babies end up not making it, which is sad for everyone.

My job for this module was to figure out what the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy are (sharp pain and bleeding), when the symptoms usually appear (6-16 weeks), what the symptoms can be confused with (miscarriage, appendicitis, UTI, kidney stone), what the risks are (massive hemorrhage, death), and what I would do if my client or I suspected an ectopic pregnancy (Um, 911).

If an ectopic pregnancy is discovered before it ruptures, the treatment in the hospital is to surgically remove it. If it is small enough, it can be treated with a chemotherapy drug. Either way, the medical treatment results in no more pregnancy.

Women who are at risk for having an ectopic pregnancy are those who have had pelvic surgery or surgery on the uterine tube, have a history of infertility, are over 35, smoke, use an IUD for birth control, have ever had chlamydia or gonorrhea, and have had an ectopic pregnancy before.

I hope I never see one.