The EPT

These conditions or behaviours did NOT cause your ectopic pregnancy:

MISCARRIAGE – is it related to ectopic pregnancy?

The short answer is no.

Unfortunately, miscarriage is a very common and natural phenomenon. UK national statistics indicate that miscarriage occurs in between one in three and one in five first trimester pregnancies.

This is a huge number of predictable miscarriages and although deeply devastating for those who suffer them, it goes some way to explaining why, when we present with mild spotting and moderate bleeding in early pregnancy, the doctors assume a miscarriage and also know nothing can be done and so often send women home to lose the pregnancy without intervention.

This statistic also means that up to every third women who conceives after ectopic pregnancy will have a greater chance of miscarriage than carrying to term – this statistic is one of the many reasons that we always suggest that women give themselves a 3 month break between their loss to ectopic and trying to conceive. She needs to feel ready to face whatever life might bring, as well as having explored her grief for the lost pregnancy to ectopic and having allowed herself to recover physically from any treatment.

Miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy are completely unrelated but because miscarriage is so prevalent, it is hard to imagine when you suffer one after an ectopic pregnancy that they are not related in some way, but there is no evidence to suggest they are.

ABORTION – is it linked to Ectopic Pregnancy? Did my abortion cause my ectopic pregnancy?

The fact is that there is NO concrete evidence to link ectopic and termination of pregnancy.

The decision to terminate pregnancy is always a difficult one. It is not like deciding whether to drink diet or full sugar cola – the decision to terminate a pregnancy is a big decision based on the circumstances at the time. And if in those precise circumstances again, and back where the decision was being made or in some cases having the decision made for us, then many would probably make the same decision over and over again.

There are many inaccurate research articles online, often used as propoganda by pro-life groups, making tenuous links between termination and EP. There is nothing at all, however, to be gained by frightening ourselves about a termination and whether it might or might not have contributed to a subsequent loss.

Lives are lived, decisions made and there is no point whatsoever in trying to allocate blame for things we can’t alter now, or in relying on published information which is not firmly rooted in research-based fact.

We would ask anyone struggling with this issue to please be gentle with yourselves and don’t believe everything you read on the web, in the news, or in magazines. Always check the source of the figures that are quoted. Most of all, don’t beat yourselves up for something that cannot be changed and is unlikely to have contributed anyway.

Abortion – is ectopic pregnancy an abortion?

Definition of abortion:

In medicine, an abortion is the premature exit of the products of conception (the foetus, foetal membranes, and placenta) from the uterus. It is the loss of a pregnancy and does not refer to why that pregnancy was lost. A spontaneous abortion is a medical term used to describe a miscarriage. The miscarriage of 3 or more consecutive pregnancies is termed in medicine as habitual abortion.

Ectopic pregnancy is not and never could be regarded as an abortion in the more widely understood meaning of the word. Ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition, where the egg has implanted outside the uterus. If left unmanaged, it can cause a rupture or breach of the wall of the structure it has attached itself to, with the consequence of life-threatening internal bleeding, possibly resulting in the death of the mother. In the UK it is still the most common cause of maternal death.

The Catholic church does not accept all methods of managing an ectopic pregnancy. It has ruled that early intervention with a drug called methotrexate, which stops the cells of the pregnancy dividing, is morally and ethically unacceptable. It does, however, accept that surgical intervention with the removal of the ectopic pregnancy is acceptable. It is very important when considering these issues to be clear about the medical terminology.

Conclusions:

Abortion is a generic medical term used to describe the premature exit of the products of conception from the uterus before 28 weeks, but is becoming less commonly used in medicine because of the confusion the term creates.

Elective termination of pregnancy is a surgical procedure to evacuate the usually viable products of conception from the uterus and is an elective (ie chosen) procedure. This is also sometimes called abortion. Elective termination can also be a choice, following antenatal test results which confirm that the foetus has a condition which is not compatible with life. Conditions described as not compatible with life will result in the baby being unable to survive outside the uterus and would usually result in a stillbirth or the birth of a baby who dies shortly after delivery.

Miscarriage is an event where the pregnancy ends naturally at any point before 28 weeks of pregnancy. Viability has usually ended for the foetus before the miscarriage occurs. In some cases, following a miscarriage where the pregnancy has ended but the woman has not begun to bleed or may be bleeding only slightly, doctors may perform a surgical procedure referred to as an ERPC  – this is short for the evacuation of the retained products of conception. This is also not a termination of pregnancy or abortion in the normal usage of the word.

Ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition which, if not medically managed and or treated, can end the life of the mother. It should not be confused either with miscarriage which is not usually life threatening, or with an elective termination of pregnancy which is a surgical procedure to end a viable pregnancy or with one which ends a pregnancy where the foetus has a condition which is not compatible with life.  An ectopic pregnancy is an out of place pregnancy and so does not fit the medical definition of premature exit of the products of conception from the uterus. In the majority of instances (more than 90%) of ectopic pregnancy the foetus has never been viable and there has never been a heartbeat.

Some doctors use the term ‘tubal abortion’ to explain why no products of conception can be found in a ruptured tube, when it is examined after the diagnosis and treatment of ectopic pregnancy but again, this is not the same as the premature exit of the products of conception from the uterus. Tubal abortion refers to the products of conception separating from the wall of the fallopian tube to be passed in much the same way they might be in a miscarriage.

Exercise - could the level of exercise I did contribute to my ectopic?

Do not worry if you do lots of intense cycling and spinning or other kind of exercise. Exercise and sport in general, makes no contribution to ectopic pregnancy.

Flying - can flying cause ectopic pregnancy?

There is no evidence at all to link ectopic pregnancy to flying.