While surfing the internet a few days ago, I saw the picture of a newly wedded couple. I quickly scrolled down to read the epistle below, only to learn that young Fatima (the bride) was dead. She died several weeks into her first pregnancy.
She only took a blood and urine tests to confirm her pregnancy. She didn’t do a scan to show where her baby was. She died from the complications of ECTOPIC PREGNANCY, a death 100% avoidable. So, the together forever oath ended. That was how she tragically left her husband a widower at a very young age.
As a pregnant woman, doing blood and urine tests are not enough to confirm pregnancy. You must also do scan to know where your baby lies- inside or outside the uterus. You must do this scan immediately you realise that you are pregnant in order to avoid story that touches.
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WHAT IS ECTOPIC PREGNANCY?
Ectopic pregnancy is the implantation of the product of conceptus outside the normal uterine cavity. This is when the baby and placenta of an unborn child stay outside its home (i.e. the womb). Common places are; the fallopian tube, the ovary or the peritoneal cavity, i.e in the abdomen. However, pregnancy can also exist both in the womb and in other places at the same time. This is known as HETEROTOPIC PREGNANCY.
WHAT CAN MAKE A WOMAN HAVE THIS CONDITION?
Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease
Previous ectopic pregnancy
Previous tubal surgery
Use of intrauterine device
Intrauterine fertilization treatment
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS THE PATIENT MAY HAVE?
Abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding are the major symptoms while others include dizziness, weakness, blurring of vision, and shoulder tip pain.
TREATMENT
This depends on the symptoms the patient present; it can be achieved through surgery or use of drugs.
KEY POINTS
Confirmation of pregnancy alone with a blood or urine test is not enough. The location of the baby should also be determined with an ultrasound scan. Make sure you do this scan very early.
Heterotropic pregnancies also occur when there is a development of two(2) foetuses within and outside the womb at the same time.
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Dr Odusanya Bilikisu Oluwaseun, is a medical doctor and a graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo university, Ogun state, Nigeria.
She is a poet, reader and researcher, with keen interest in Global health, and management with emphasis on how these affects maternal and child health.
She has a good qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills. A high standing academic track record, and communicates fluently in English, Yoruba, and Hausa.
