Transcript
“There is one very important medical emergency you need to be aware of in the first trimester of pregnancy. So there’s a situation where the pregnancy, instead of implanting in the uterus or in the womb actually ends up in the fallopian tube. Now this can occur for any number of reasons: a sexually transmitted infection, a pelvic inflammatory disease, a ruptured appendix, any inter-pelvic, or abdominal infection in the past, or situations like endometriosis that have caused scarring or previous pelvic surgery that have caused scarring. For whatever reason, if those fallopian tubes aren’t open and the egg starts its journey from the ovaries through the tubes and trying to meet up with the sperm, we know the sperm is coming up through the cervix and in the uterus. And they normally meet in the fallopian tubes, the egg and the sperm coming together to start that conception process.
And if that happens in the fallopian tubes where it’s supposed to, but the fallopian tube doesn’t allow free passage, that pregnancy can start to grow in the fallopian tube. It’s called a tubal pregnancy or an ectopic pregnancy. This can ultimately be a medical emergency. So as that pregnancy grows, there’s potential for it to stretch the tube. And it may even rupture and it may even rupture and cause a significant amount of bleeding. So if you’re having a pregnancy that you feel is not quite right, you’re having increasing pain, you’re having one sided pain, if it’s on your right, it may even be confused with your appendix, if you’re having even things like heart palpitations, lightheadedness, dizziness, you’re feeling faint, those could be indicators that you’re losing blood and you don’t want to get to that situation without having yourself properly evaluated. But if you do, definitely go to the nearest emergency room and call the ambulance to get there, because that is one of the true obstetrical emergencies that women can sometimes get themselves into that situation where they’re not aware of what’s happening, but their life is at danger from an ectopic pregnancy.”