Losing weight before TTC

Preparing For Your Next Pregnancy
1

Hi all, Im 27 and had my ectoptic in July and was treated with methotrexate before being discharged on 30th August. It was my first pregnancy.

Were thinking about trying again. We have just been go the Caribbean so have to wait until the end of March anyway, but I dont know if I should wait longer and try to lose weight. I need to lose about 3.5 stone and my BMI is 32. I would hate for the baby to be in the right place this time and then miscarry. I know being overweight increases the risk so I would never be able to forgive myself if I thought it was my fault. But equally I know it might take a while to get pregnant or I could have another ectopic.

I dont know whether to wait till I’m in the best physical shape or whether to try as soon as I can in case we have another loss and have to wait again.

Just looking for some advice. Thanks in advance.

2

Dear NinjaPenguin,

I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy and loss,

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.

I wish I could give more precise information, but as I do not have access to your and your partner’s medical records, it is difficult for me to provide specific details. Generally, we and many healthcare professionals advise keeping a healthy balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight and abstaining from alcohol and smoking. If weight loss is an important factor for you, I would suggest doing this in a healthy way too and talking to health professionals.

I have added an NHS link for you to look at whenever you feel ready too.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy … -pregnant/

Please also remember that importantly early scans avail. 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

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

The latest EPT newsletter is out now! You can take a look at the Winter edition 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

From what I understand, It is entirely possible for you to have a healthy pregnancy with that BMI. There’s a website called plusmommy.com that links to lots of information and resources on this. A lot of the women on there have BMIs that are might higher than this and have had very healthy pregnancies. You may want to look into your absolute risk for increased miscarriage…I think you may be thinking of your relative risk in terms of having a BMI of 32 vs. one within the "typical range."If you look at the absolute risk, you will find that you are still overwhelmingly most likely to have a healthy full-term pregnancy, rather than a miscarriage at your current BMI. I cannot tell you what you should do, but I can tell you that my BMI is over 35; my doctor was less a lot concerned about this number and more concerned about my blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. All of these numbers were in ideal ranges for me, so she cleared me to try to conceive when we first started trying. I got pregnant the first month we tried…it did turn out to be ectopic, but that had nothing to do with my BMI. My understanding is that being healthy is more important than having a slightly high BMI prior to pregnancy See what you can do in the next few months, I’m in a a similar frame of mind. My ectopic was diagnosed on 12/9/19. My betas started at 2500 and I’m now at 66; so I will be waiting along with you and working on my mental and physical fitness. I wish you so much luck and a future healthy pregnancy.