Sometimes, although conception has happened, the fertilized egg doesn’t lodge itself in the correct place, but in one of the fallopian tubes. When it starts to grow, this could cause internal bleeding that must be treated immediately.

The fertilized egg

When you ovulate, you liberate an ovule or egg that travels down the fallopian tubes (these are two tubes that run from the ovaries to your uterus). The encounter with your partner’s sperm takes place in the fallopian tubes. Once fertilized, the egg must travel until it reaches the uterus, where it will embed itself in one of the walls and will start to grow until it becomes a baby.

Due to different causes, this fertilized egg sometimes fails to travel down the tubes and remains in the place where it was fertilized and starts to grow there. That poses a very big danger for the mother because when it grows it can cause the fallopian tube to burst and cause severe internal bleeding.

Ectopic pregnancy can also happen in the ovary and in other places other than the uterus.  

How to recognize an ectopic pregnancy

Acute pain is usually one of the first symptoms of ectopic pregnancy. It is an acute and pulsating pain, either on the left or the right side, or in the low abdomen. It’s usually felt in the area where menstrual cramps are felt.  

A pain typical of ectopic pregnancy is shoulder pain that appears as a reflex of the inflammation happening in the fallopian tube. Spotting, a drop in blood pressure with an accelerated heart-beat, a sensation of pressure in the rectum, or general malaise in the area, as if there were an intestinal problem.  

Due to the severe consequences an ectopic pregnancy could have, it is important to go to the hospital or the doctor’s office immediately, if you suspect the symptoms could pertain to an ectopic pregnancy.  

Why ectopic pregnancies happen

Generally, the cause is due to the impossibility of the egg to follow its usual path due to some scar or tissue that prevents it from traveling to the uterus as it usually would.

Some of the things that could cause an ectopic pregnancy are infections due to venereal diseases, other kinds of infections that affect the tissue of the tubes, surgery, or a condition known as endometriosis. Women who have already suffered ectopic pregnancies are at a higher risk.

Treatment

Ectopic pregnancy is detected with an ultrasound and confirming the pregnancy with certain tests.  

The only way of preventing internal bleeding or stopping one if it has started, is to eliminate the fertilized egg. In emergency cases, conventional surgery is done, or the surgery may be done with a laparoscopy.  

This procedure only involves two incisions in the abdomen, where the instruments are introduced that will extract the fertilized egg. In some instances, depending on the size, it’s possible to save the tube and repair the damage, but this is not always possible and the whole tube must be removed.  

If the fertilized egg is small enough, it is possible to use certain medication to stop growth and for it to be reabsorbed.  

In any case, ectopic pregnancies are not frequent and the probabilities of having one have more to do with the risk factors explained before.