Think Ectopic - Saving Lives Together

Ectopic pregnancy remains common, affecting around 1 in 80 pregnancies. The MBRRACE-UK 2022 Report identified that ectopic pregnancy remains the most frequent cause of maternal death in early pregnancy. The latest report shows that the death rate from ectopic pregnancy devastatingly has increased from five women dying to eight and all died within 48 hours of presentation with their ectopic pregnancy.  

We at The EPT are supporting families who have lost loved ones through ectopic pregnancy. No woman or person should lose their life as a result of ectopic pregnancy.  

The MBRRACE Report powerfully states: “With improved patient and clinician awareness regarding the symptoms of ectopic pregnancy more extrauterine pregnancies could be identified earlier and before collapse occurs.”  

We understand that departments are incredibly busy. However, through increased awareness of ectopic pregnancy and what needs to happen if a woman or person has symptoms, deaths can be avoided. 

Symptomatic women and people typically present at their doctor’s surgery or call NHS 111, attend A&E, or seek urgent care or paramedic care. We have developed an ectopic pregnancy biocard as an easy-to use reference tool for primary and urgent care settings. Our aim is to support healthcare professionals in these areas to recognise the signs of ectopic pregnancy and time critical next steps. 

We have been fortunate to collaborate with healthcare professionals in creating this biocard: 

• University Hospitals Birmingham 
• Aberdeen Centre for Woman’s Health Research/Aberdeen Maternity Hospital 

• NHS 111/Northwest London Integrated Urgent Care 

Thank you to our co-creators for their guidance and expertise. 

We can only hope to effect change by collaborating with healthcare professionals. It is vital for us to engage with professionals who would be using these resources to ensure that we provide what they need and will be of use. We have worked with clinical teams from the very start of this project and will continue to engage at every step. 

We gathered feedback from a range of primary care professionals at a recent conference to ask their thoughts on the Think Ectopic campaign. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. All respondents said that they consider the Think Ectopic campaign as an effective way to increase awareness of ectopic pregnancy symptoms and the referral process. 96% of respondents said they would use the biocard. This is very encouraging to know that we are working along the right lines.

Our co-creators will pilot the biocards over the course of a month. This means that during that time the biocards will be used in their pilot settings by a range of healthcare professionals. Our pilot sites include doctors, nurses, midwives, and paramedics in primary care, urgent care, and out of hours care settings.   Each of the teams will then provide feedback on the biocards and the pilot overall. It is essential that we gather meaningful input for the next phase of the project. We hope that the next stage will be a larger number of pilot sites before eventually rolling out the biocard for use by healthcare professionals across the country.  

If you would like to hear more about Think Ectopic, including interest in being part of the next pilot phase and the future roll out, please get in touch by completing the form below. Please note that the biocards are currently available to pilot sites only.