|
Taking a Look at Tubal
Pregnancy
Are you thinking about having a baby? When most women are
making this kind of decision, they weigh up a lot of different
factors. Is your relationship in the right place for a baby?
Are you financially stable enough for a baby? Will you need to
move into a larger home? What effect will a pregnancy have on
your career? Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle of all
these considerations, many women forget to research the health
issues that surround pregnancy. When you are going to have a
baby, however, your health must come first. One of the most
common health issues women face during pregnancy is also one of
the least understood – tubal pregnancies. Get to know the facts
about this issue to protect your own health early in your
pregnancy.
Tubal pregnancies are one of a few different types of
pregnancies that fall under the heading of ectopic pregnancies.
In very simple terms, an ectopic pregnancy is any pregnancy in
which the fertilized egg (also called a fertilized ovum) is
implanted someplace other than the uterus. Tubal pregnancies
occur when the fertilized egg is implanted in one of the
fallopian tubes, but ectopic pregnancies can also occur in the
ovaries, the cervix or even the abdominal cavity. Tubal
pregnancies are by far the most common kind of ectopic
pregnancy; they account for 98% of the cases.
In “normal” uterine pregnancies, the fertilized egg attaches
itself to the wall of the uterus. The uterine wall is designed
to sustain the fertilized egg throughout the gestation of the
fetus, providing it with nutrients from the mother and plenty
of room to grow. When this implantation takes place outside of
the uterus, such as within the fallopian tubes, the fertilized
egg still attaches itself to the tissue and gives off an enzyme
in an attempt to divert blood flow from that tissue to itself.
While the uterus can handle this demand, other tissues cannot,
and so an ectopic pregnancy can have serious implications for
the mother’s health.
For this reasons, an ectopic pregnancy cannot be ignored. In
some cases, the body will expel the embryo on its own in a
process known as tubal abortion. This scenario may present
itself as a normal miscarriage, and so if it happens to you,
you may not ever know for sure that your pregnancy was ectopic.
If this does not happen, however, and you begin to show
symptoms (pain in the abdomen and lower back, vaginal bleeding,
and later, internal bleeding), medical intervention is
necessary. A medication that causes you to expel the uterus may
be used, or in more difficult cases, surgery is required.
The causes of ectopic pregnancies are unknown, but there are a
few risk factors that increase your chances of having one.
Smoking is considered to be a major contributing factor of
ectopic pregnancies. Other contributing factors include giving
birth at an older age, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, and prior
ectopic pregnancies. Women who have reduced fertility because
of some other medical problem (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome,
thyroid disease, lupus, diabetes etc) also have a higher risk
of experiencing an ectopic pregnancy.
After having an ectopic pregnancy, conceiving again may be
difficult. When surgery is required to remove an ectopic
pregnancy, often the entire fallopian tube must be removed,
which impacts future fertility. Even if the tube is not
removed, future fertility will depend on how much damaged the
embryo did to the tube while it was implanted. The chance of
having a second ectopic pregnancy is around 10%. Your doctor
can help address your fertility issue after an ectopic
pregnancy; in vitro fertilization is one option many women who
have a history of ectopic pregancies turn to.
|