I still remember the day….Christmas Eve 2021. I was out having breakfast with my partner and two children. I was six weeks pregnant, and I quickly popped the toilet as I had uncomfortable tummy pains. I sat on the toilet no knowing what was going on and unable to go, I wiped and saw blood.
I had a miscarriage a few months before I knew what, or what I thought, was happening. I went back to the table and tried to act naturally. Over the next few days, I bled more and passed what I thought was a clot. That was it, I thought, I could move on. I rang the hospital to check if I needed to do anything but as it was Boxing Day (26 December), I was told I was ok to carry on looking after myself. I then began experiencing symptoms of a water infection and asked a doctor to see me. I was prescribed antibiotics over the phone.
A couple of weeks later, a pain I’d never felt before hit me. It was worse than my labour pains, I was doubled over, hot and sweating and I knew that something was happening inside of me that my body wasn’t happy with. I got my partner to drive me to accident and emergency, stopping on the way to be sick and eventually passing out.
I had to go into the accident and emergency department alone as it was during the pandemic. I was in the waiting room for two hours alone, being sick and in excruciating agony. Once I was seen I don’t remember much because I was given morphine. I just kept saying help me my tummy is contracting, something isn’t right. After a few hours I was seen by a doctor and when I explained that I miscarried, I was told my hCG levels (pregnancy hormone levels) were very high. Looking back, it was quite clear what was happening, but I was unaware of the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy.
A gynaecologist saw me the next day and examined me, I was sent home and asked to come back the following day for a scan. I hardly slept that night as I was petrified of that pain happening again. The next day I was hopeful that I was still pregnant I went for the scan alone and within minutes there was a room full of people putting stockings on me while explaining I needed surgery straight away. My partner was allowed in for all of five minutes.
I could hear the doctors discussing how I should never have been allowed home and that I should have been scanned two days prior. When I next woke it was awful, I was confused in pain and just told my right Fallopian tube was removed.
The aftercare from nurses was great but there was no emotional support. I took to Google and came across The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust website and it’s only through this that I managed to get my head around it and recover physically and emotionally.
I will never trust my body again though. For ages every twinge I felt, I was petrified as I never want to feel that pain again. After that I had one more miscarriage but am now a mom again for the third time.
I’ll never forget what happened, but I’ve finally managed to move forward with support from The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. I’m too scared to share my story with anyone just a few close friends know however I want to start sharing awareness of the symptoms, so that others get the help they need as soon as possible.
Thank you to Hayley for sharing her experience. If you would like to share your experience of ectopic pregnancy, please visit our guide for more information.
Please remember our support services are available at any time.