Dear Hariharan Rathinam,
I am so sorry to hear about your wife’s ectopic pregnancy and your loss. From your own words, I can imagine what a frightening experience it was and my heart goes out to you both.
As you have rightly pointed out, ectopic pregnancy can be notoriously difficult to diagnose because it often presents with symptoms that can be suggestive of other, more usual, conditions such as gastroenteritis, miscarriage or even appendicitis.
As we are a UK based charity, I can only comment on care offered here but with subsequent pregnancies we advise to contact your local Early Pregnancy Unit/Dr as soon as you know you are pregnant to inform them and book in for an early scan at around six weeks. Remind them of your previous ectopic pregnancy.
We have more information on symptoms of ectopic pregnancy here- https://www.ectopic.org.uk/patients/sym … diagnosis/
I hope you don’t mind but I’ve added some information on recovery from surgery here. Experiencing ectopic pregnancy is a huge ordeal and your wife is in the early stages of recovery. Her body needs time to heal from your surgery which is in itself a gruelling task. You have also had to process the loss of your baby and been through an immense rollercoaster of emotions - all of this will take time to come to terms with.
She should take it very easily for about six weeks after surgery. Her body will be using its energies to heal internally. It is normal to feel physically and emotionally exhausted during this time and please do be kind to yourself. Recovery can take time and some days will be better than others, one day she maybe ok and the next she maybe in discomfort or more emotional. This is perfectly usual and the healing process will go back and forth in this way for however long she needs. It is important to listen to her body’s signals and pain and feeling tired are her body’s signs to tell you to rest. We suggest keeping a healthy balanced diet, drinking lots of water and resting. Once wounds have healed, very gentle exercise such as a short walk can help, but please do take this slowly.
We will be here for you both for as long as you need,
Sending much love,
Karen x
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Further information is available at www.ectopic.org.uk
Email us at ept@ectopic.org.uk.
Our helpline is 020 7733 2653 (available Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm).
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.