In October 2023 I found out that I was pregnant, and we were super excited! Everything was going well until I was exactly six weeks and I started experiencing extreme pain in my right leg. I had no other symptoms, but the pain was so bad I went to Accident and Emergency and was sent straight to the gynaecology assessment unit. My bloods were taken, my hCG levels (pregnancy hormone levels) were high and the pain not only continued but became worse. I was there for four hours before I saw a doctor and by this time there was no one able to scan me as they had all finished for the day, I was informed there was no access to an emergency scan.
I was kept in hospital overnight where my pain became worse, I had no bleeding, but my stomach swelled, and I began experiencing pain in my lungs and shoulders. Still no pain in my stomach or other ectopic pregnancy symptoms. No pain relief helped, and I become very unwell. They scanned me at 8:30 the next morning where they saw I had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in my right Fallopian tube, and I was rushed to emergency surgery where they discovered I had 600ml of blood in my abdomen. I ended up having a right salpingectomy. Once I had recovered, I was reassured I would be monitored on my next pregnancy due to the risks of a future ectopic pregnancy.
In December 2023 I found out that I was pregnant again. I was excited but fearful of another ectopic pregnancy. I informed the hospital I was pregnant and was booked in for a scan for just after six weeks. Due to my previous ectopic pregnancy myself and my partner decided we wanted a scan before this, so we booked a private scan for a few days before six weeks. Again, I had no symptoms, but we wanted peace of mind. We attended the private scan where we were informed, they were unable to see anything in my uterus and that they struggled to see my Fallopian tube, so they referred me to our local hospital for further checks.
When we arrived, we were told they should not have referred us as six weeks was too early to see anything. They took my hCG (pregnancy hormone levels) which was again high. I had lots of checks by a doctor but again was informed due to it being New Year’s Eve, they could not scan me as there was not out of hours facilities available. We informed the doctor of our concerns, and she arranged a scan for 2 January which would mark my six weeks. We attended as planned, I had started experiencing pain but not in my stomach, it was pressure in back passage which I presumed was constipation. They repeated my hCG (pregnancy hormone levels) which was very high and performed various examinations. A scan was performed, and they saw a sac which they believed was about five weeks but no yolk sac. They advised me they would scan me again in a week.
The pain became worse, so I was prescribed laxatives and sent home. Upon leaving the hospital I became very dizzy, nauseous and the pain was unbearable. I returned to the hospital, becoming more and more unwell. They scanned me again but were unable to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy but kept me on the unit for monitoring.
As the day went on, I became more unwell. I was unable to walk, I began to bloat, I had pain in my lungs and shoulders and was unable to breathe. My hospital observations showed that I was deteriorating rapidly. I became so unwell that I had to go for emergency surgery to diagnose what was happening. After the surgery I was informed, I’d had another ruptured ectopic pregnancy with an internal bleed of 1.6l. But this time it was in the same side I had previously had my Fallopian tube removed in the remaining stub, which apparently is very rare. The sac they had seen in my uterus was a pseudo sac. Due to this and my previous salpingectomy it had been harder to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy.
I now have a plan in place for future pregnancy’s due to the high risk of reoccurrence and the fact that each time I have become more unwell. I am hoping my experience can help others and prevent delay in treatment.
Thank you to Hannah for sharing her experience. If you would like to share your experience of ectopic pregnancy, please visit our guide for more information.
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