You must read to the bottom of this important information before you can activate the link to take you to our forums index.

We want to welcome you, and we aim to make using these message boards a useful and enjoyable experience for all. You're welcome to express your opinions and disagree with others, but please do so with respect for others, and comply with our guidelines below when posting. Please note that the views expressed on our message boards are not necessarily those of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.

What's the purpose of the board?

Women (and their partners, family or friends) can write about their experiences of ectopic pregnancy and gain the support of others who may have been through similar situations. Professionals, or those wishing to make contact with others who have the experience of ectopic pregnancy for research purposes, you are invited to contact us. The organisation has an extensive list of volunteers who may be able to help you.

Getting started

Posting on the boards is straightforward. You can read comments and questions about ectopic pregnancy on our main forum and men’s space, without being a registered user, but you will need to register with our service before you can post. Once registered, you will find a list of other forums which include: preparing for pregnancy, pregnant after ectopic pregnancy, parents’ place, alternative routes to motherhood, and living life without children. There are also places for getting things off your chest and chatting about off-topic stuff. If you have any problems logging in or registering, please make sure you read our information about this. We do ask that you abide by our guidelines when posting, and read the "stickies" and announcements at the top of each board.

To register and obtain an account, you’ll need to choose a user name and a password. You will need to provide a valid email address to be able to validate the account before you can post. Your email address will not be available to others unless you tick the accompanying box in the settings of the account when you register, and your details will never be given to a third party by The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.

Moderation

In order to maintain a friendly, supportive and safe atmosphere, and to ensure that medical information is accurate and safe, The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust manually moderates the messages you submit. Messages that violate our guidelines will be moderated and posts may be locked.

Guidelines for acceptable (and not) use of the message boards:

Be sociable and avoid harassment - you are welcome to discuss, agree and disagree but please respect other users and do not attack those whose views you disagree with. Personalisation of posts which may be considered to be threatening will always be moderated. It's a really good idea to think about how a message might be received before you post it. It is unacceptable to post comments that are defamatory or threatening towards others, or are in any way discriminatory, and any posts deemed to constitute any of these elements will be moderated.

Obscenity – the use of uncensored swear words, obscene, offensive, discriminatory or indecent language and images is not allowed.

Disruptive and provocative behaviour - whilst you may disagree with comments from other users or dislike a particular topic, please do not post messages that are intended to disrupt a particular thread or discussion. Deliberately provocative, inflammatory, or obstructive content will be removed, and the post may be locked to prevent further disruption.

Use of Spam and viruses – spamming of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust boards is not allowed, and all spam including posts written for financial gain or to promote events or services will be removed. Viruses, bots, Trojan horses or similar contaminants are not allowed on Ectopic Pregnancy Trust message boards.

Personal information – for your own safety, please do not post personal information in the body of the text on any post you might leave on the message boards. This includes your email or home address, telephone or mobile number. Do not post the venues for meetings on the boards. If you wish your email address to be available to other users, please adjust this permission in your profile. The EPT does not exchange email addresses on your behalf. The EPT can help with notifying others about arrangements for private meetings.

Weblinks – please do not post links to other websites, unless they are included in the links section on the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust home page. If you would like to make reference to another site which is not in that section, please contact the EPT for advice prior to posting, to ensure that our guidance on advertising is not breached.

Solicitation – we do not allow solicitation, either commercial or non-commercial on the boards. Please do not post links to websites selling services without prior consent from the EPT.

Legal and confidentiality issues – please do not post illegal, unlawful, confidential or trade information, injunctions or content relating to pending or ongoing legal proceedings. Please do not post admissions to, or encourage others to participate in, criminal activities.

Copyright - please do not post anything for which you do not own the copyright. If posting material written by other people on the "poems, prose and words of remembrance" board, please ensure that you write the name of the author in the text of your message. If you do not know the author, please write “author unknown”.

Gathering of information - the use of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust message forums for gathering information for non Ectopic Pregnancy Trust surveys or research studies is not allowed without prior permission of the Trust. For further information, please email ept@ectopic.org.uk

Use of jargon and code - please try not to use language and code that might be difficult to understand. New visitors can find it very off-putting and make them feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome. If you do come across code or jargon you don't understand, check out the abbreviations post, which might hold an answer to something confusing, or ask on the forums what a term means.

Impersonation - do not attempt to pass yourself off as another user.

Prescribing and alternative therapies – please do not recommend or prescribe therapies or other medical treatments including over-the-counter drugs to other users of the site. It is not safe to do this and we cannot endorse any therapies or practices. The following is our alternative therapies policy statement:

Alternative Therapies Policy Statement

“The EPT is a charity that has the backing of many medical specialists and as such prides itself in providing accurate, research based medical information about ectopic pregnancy and issues related to it.

Whilst we understand that many people are interested in the use of alternative and complementary therapies, we do not endorse these on our site. We therefore remind you that, should you wish to make use of these therapies, you exercise caution and also avoid recommending them to other users of the EPT forums. Many complementary medicines are quite powerful and can have harmful side effects if misused. They may also interact with medicines that you may already be taking, or intend to take. Please remember that “natural” does not always mean safe – indeed some of the medicines that are prescribed today (including some controlled drugs) are derived from natural products. Indeed, many "natural" or "herbal" preparations can interfere with prescribed medicines or even make an existing condition or illness worse.

Please also make sure that you seek treatment only from reputable practitioners, and be aware that not all alternative and complementary therapists are registered with a governing body. It is quite legal in the United Kingdom to set up practice without having to be registered. However, do remember that not all regulatory bodies are reputable so be sure that your practitioner belongs to a bona fide governing body.

Buying medicines on the internet is far from safe and you can never be 100% sure that they do what they say they do, or contain exactly what they say they do. Lastly, there are many unscrupulous people out there who are quite happy to make money from vulnerable groups, making claims that cannot be substantiated about products and services they aim to supply to you, so do be aware of this and only seek guidance and or alternative treatment from appropriately qualified and registered individuals.”

Medical advice

Whilst our message board is moderated and medically overseen we are not an emergency service. If you have an urgent problem, you should contact your health care provider or visit your out of hours or emergency services. To obtain medical advice at any time in England you can call NHS direct on 0845 46 47 or if you are outside England, access the services available in your area. For less urgent issues, or to ask questions about ectopic pregnancy, you can phone the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust's national helpline on 020 7733 2653. This helpline is available with a live service between 10am and 4pm on normal working weekdays - otherwise a 24 hour answering service is in place, and a female experienced worker will ring you back.

Who administers the message forums?

Please contact us if you have any questions about this message board or to report abuse. (Ruth) Izzie Oakley is the Service and Support Manager and has responsibility for the day-to-day running and content of the forums and she supports the hosts. There is a combination of in-house and external moderation.

The website designer is Jason King who formerly worked for Hillingdon Association of Voluntary Services. He now operates his own business and has emigrated to Australia, but the wonders of internet technology mean he can continue to support us. If there is a technical problem then Jason can also be contacted by email.

We are happy to provide a copy of our policy relating to the provision of our message board services. Please contact ept@ectopic.org.uk to request one.

Finished reading our etiquette guidelines? You are most welcome to visit our message forums.

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