Dear Glambi,
I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy loss and that you weren’t offered any aftercare or support. Please feel free to lean on us for as long as you need and we also have a wealth of information on our website https://ectopic.org.uk/
Sadly there are no tests that can guarantee we won’t experience an ectopic pregnancy again, but the chances of a further ectopic after a first in UK is 10%. So that’s 90% chance of the embryo being in right place next time.
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. It may be comforting to know that 65% of women are successfully pregnant within 18 months of experiencing an ectopic pregnancy and some studies suggest this rises to around 85% after two years.
Testing post ectopic pregnancy isn’t common practice in the UK as unfortunately, tubal patency tests cannot provide complete peace of mind. Even if a tubal patency test shows an open Fallopian tube, it does not show whether it will work – only a normally located pregnancy can show that at least one Fallopian tube worked.
The test is not 100% accurate as the Fallopian tubes can go into spasm during the test and can appear blocked even though this is not the case. This can cause unnecessary anxiety if the Fallopian tube is affected by spasm but in fact is actually working normally. The test cannot determine what the internal villi of the Fallopian tube look like.
It is important to remember to wait for 3 months before trying to conceive and as soon as you know you are pregnant, contact your local EPU to inform them and book in for an early scan at around six weeks. Remind them of your previous ectopic pregnancy. This self refer route is the best route in our view. Hopefully you will have some comfort to know you are under the radar of medical professionals right away.
Sending much love,
Karen x
The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust
Registered Charity Number: 1071811
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