Conceiving for a 2nd after one successful pregnancy following a Ectopic Pregnancy

Preparing For Your Next Pregnancy
1

Hello All,

I wanted to understand what experiences other women have had with conceiving again after a successful pregnancy following an ectopic pregnancy.

Some background: I experienced an ectopic pregnancy in 2016, followed by surgery with the removal of one of my fallopian tube. This left me with one healthy functional tube.

In 2017 I fell pregnant naturally with my son, now aged 2. The pregnancy went well and my husband and I conceived naturally after 18 months of the surgery (the normal amount of time it takes for the healing). So just to give other fellow women some hope here because it can happen. The surgery of course left me depressed and worried about conceiving again. However the best things I ever did was to pick myself up and get into fitness and health. I was then going to the gym regularly, I had a Personal Trainer to help me get my body to the best possible place to conceive again. In line with eating well.

Now, my husband and I are at a good point in our life to think about trying for another child. We have been trying for around8/9 months with no luck. I would love to hear feedback from any women who have conceived their 2nd child with similar history at me.

To note I am doing everything I did with my first experience as above with another PT in my family and I am feeling in a really good place. Just wanted to understand how long does it or could it take to conceive again?

2

Dear nlakhani,

I appreciate how frustrating it can be trying to conceive isn’t happening as quickly as we would like. Conceiving successfully can take time and can take some couples more than a year or so.

While generally it is possible to conceive after an ectopic pregnancy, the amount of time it takes varies from couple to couple. Factors include age, general health, reproductive health and how often you have sex, among other things, but it is positive that you have had a successful pregnancy following your ectopic.

In addition, having regular sex means having sex every 2/3 days throughout the month. Guidance from the UK’s National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence advises that having sex around the time when the woman ovulates causes stress and is not recommended. We here at the EPT suggest having intercourse 2/3 times between days 10-20 of their cycle when trying to conceive. We also have information on our website on trying to conceive here:

https://ectopic.org.uk/patients/trying-to-conceive/

Importantly, help is available if conceiving naturally has not yet been successful after some time trying - and the EPT advises that women under 35 should seek medical advice following 12 months trying to conceive and those over 35 should seek advice after 6 months.

Sending much love,

Karen x

The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust

Registered Charity Number: 1071811

Ectopic pregnancy patient information suite: Highly Commended in the 2019 BMA Patient Information Awards

During the coronavirus outbreak, The EPT team is still working hard to provide crucial information and support to women and families experiencing ectopic pregnancy as quickly and efficiently as we can.

If we have been able to help you, are you able to help us with a small donation or by volunteering or fundraising?

Further information is available at ectopic.org.uk

Email us: ept@ectopic.org.uk

We provide a call-back helpline service: 020 7733 2653

Take a look at our newsletters and subscribe to our mailing list here: https://mailchi.mp/986bdd6091ee/ectopic-matters

Detailed medical information can be found on our website. Please remember online medical information is NO SUBSTITUTE for expert medical advice from your own health care team

3

Hello Karen

Thanks for this advice, appreciated.

Will look into this.