Ectopic Pregnancy

An ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening medical emergency that requires immediate treatment from healthcare providers. When mismanaged or left untreated, it can rupture a woman’s internal organs and threaten her ability to ever become pregnant again.

Doctors, nurses, and all other medical teams must recognize the risks, signs, and symptoms of a mother’s ectopic pregnancy and act quickly to reduce her chances of becoming permanently injured.

A mother can sustain devastating injuries and hemorrhaging without proper treatment during and after her ectopic pregnancy. Miller Weisbrod Olesky has a decades-long proven track record of results for medical malpractice victims across the United States who have suffered from all types of missed or improperly-treated pregnancy complications.

Our specialized team of birth injury attorneys can review the unique circumstances of you or your family’s case to deliver the treatment, care, and financial resources you deserve. You can contact us either online or through phone to schedule a free consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won’t be charged any legal fees until after we win your case.

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An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg doesn’t attach to the uterus properly and instead implants outside of it. In a normal pregnancy, a mother’s egg is dropped from her ovary and travels through the fallopian tube to be fertilized by the father’s sperm.

But in an ectopic pregnancy, instead of the fertilized egg attaching into the uterus, the egg tries to attach to an external organ. 90% of ectopic pregnancies implant into the fallopian tube, but they can also occur in the cervix, the ovary, or even in the abdominal cavity.

A fetus is unable to develop properly outside of the uterus, meaning that an ectopic pregnancy has no chance of being viable. Medication is normally prescribed to treat it, although more severe ectopic pregnancies require surgery to treat.

All ectopic pregnancies must be terminated via either medication or surgery to prevent life-threatening harm to the mother.

For most women, an ectopic pregnancy is caused by some sort of blockage in their fallopian tubes that prevents the egg from getting to the uterus. This can happen for multiple reasons, such as having an irregularly shaped fallopian tube, excess scar tissue, inflammation from a previous pelvic surgery, or other damage to the tubes from a growth or a sexually transmitted infection.

Other risk factors that may increase an expecting mother’s likelihood of ectopic pregnancy include:

• Medical History: A history of infertility or past ectopic pregnancies indicate that a mother is at high risk for it to happen again. For these mothers, obstetricians and other healthcare providers must pay extra attention during prenatal care to ensure that the pregnancy is progressing regularly.
• Endometriosis: Endometriosis is a medical condition where tissue that looks and acts like the uterine lining starts to grow in places outside of the uterus. This can confuse the body and cause a mother’s fertilized egg to implant in places where it shouldn’t, increasing a mother’s risk for ectopic pregnancy.
• Intrauterine Device Implant: An intrauterine device (IUD) is a contraceptive option that aims to prevent pregnancy by blocking egg implantation in the uterus. When ectopic pregnancies occur in women with an IUD implant, the risk for an internal rupture and bleeding increases.
• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection that affects the female reproductive organs and creates excess scar tissue in them. It can be caused by the spread of an untreated sexually transmitted infection. When PID occurs in the fallopian tubes, it can cause blockages and increase the mother’s risk for an ectopic pregnancy.

No course of action is guaranteed to prevent an ectopic pregnancy. This is because ectopic pregnancies sometimes happen for reasons beyond the mother’s control, including her genetics, her anatomy, or her underlying health conditions like endometriosis.

However, certain things like cigarette smoke and sexually transmitted infections have been linked to fallopian tube damage. Expecting mothers can avoid smoking and can engage in safe sex practices like using condoms and limiting their number of sexual partners to lower the chances of contracting a disease that will bring excess damage to their reproductive system. This can indirectly reduce the risk for an ectopic pregnancy.

If an expecting mother believes she is at risk for an ectopic pregnancy, she should consult with her primary healthcare provider during a routine prenatal checkup so she can be tested for it.

Sometimes, the early signs of an ectopic pregnancy can mimic those of a normal pregnancy. This includes a missed menstrual period, tenderness, frequent urination, and morning sickness. However, other symptoms may begin to appear in the weeks following a positive pregnancy test.

One of the first signs of an issue may be light vaginal bleeding accompanied by pelvic pain. This pain can travel to the mother’s abdomen and lower back. These symptoms alone aren’t a total confirmation of an ectopic pregnancy, but they do warrant a trip to a maternal care clinic for further testing.

More dire ectopic pregnancy cases may cause the fallopian tube to rupture. The initial bursting of the tube will trigger a sharp abdominal pain. Shortly after, the bleeding can cause additional symptoms like shoulder pain, low blood pressure, shock, fainting, and even death.

Although it’s rare, the ectopic pregnancy becomes life-threatening at this stage and requires immediate surgical intervention to prevent the loss of the mother’s life.

Treatment for an ectopic pregnancy depends on a couple of factors, including the location, the size, and the status of the mother’s health.

Medication

For cases that are caught earlier on, the mother can receive an injection of an immunosuppressant medication that stops cell growth and dissolves the existing cells of the embryo.

The most common brand of this medication is called methotrexate. It can also be used to treat arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Follow-up appointments are standard after administering the injection to monitor the mother’s hormone levels.

Surgery

When an ectopic pregnancy isn’t caught until the later stages, medication may not be enough to stall the development of the growing embryo. The mother’s doctor may deem a surgical procedure to be medically necessary when her fallopian tube is at a high risk of rupturing or has already ruptured.

The mother is put to sleep with general anesthesia for the procedure. The surgeon then makes several small incisions into her abdomen and removes the egg from her fallopian tube (or from wherever the egg implanted). In more severe cases, the doctor is unable to preserve the fallopian tube and must remove it altogether with the egg still inside. The surgery will typically be guided using a laparoscope, which is a small camera tool that is inserted through the abdominal incisions to help guide the surgeon to the implanted egg.

The procedure is generally considered to be low risk with a very high survival rate. However, the mother’s future fertility may be impacted depending on the amount of damage taken to her reproductive organs.

Sometimes an ectopic pregnancy diagnosis is delayed because of the symptoms presenting as a normal pregnancy. Errors with conducting ultrasounds or misreading blood and urine test results can contribute to a missed diagnosis as well.

On the opposite side, a doctor may mistake the symptoms of a normal pregnancy for an ectopic one. This can lead to an improper medication prescription that will cause the miscarriage of a child who was otherwise developing normally.

Surgeons can make critical errors during the removal procedure that can inflict further harm to the mother. Examples include making too big or small of an abdominal incision, accidentally puncturing an organ like the ovary or fallopian tube, or even the unnecessary removal of the mother’s fallopian tube. These mistakes can cause internal injury and jeopardize her future fertility.

It’s important to note that it requires a detailed review of the specific facts and timeline of a mother’s pregnancy and the action taken shortly after before making a definitive judgement as to whether medical malpractice played a factor in the injury.

How soon would you know if you have an ectopic pregnancy?

Some women don’t show any symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy at first. They tend to appear during the first trimester between 4 to 12 weeks of gestation. However, symptoms can mimic those of a normal pregnancy, such as nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Sometimes the only way to confirm a pregnancy to be ectopic is through an ultrasound during routine prenatal visits.

Does ectopic pregnancy pain come and go?

Yes, the pain from an ectopic pregnancy can come and go, or it can sometimes develop gradually. A ruptured fallopian tube can cause sharp abdominal pain, followed by bleeding that may cause shock, lightheadedness, and fainting.

What is the first sign of an ectopic pregnancy?

The first sign of an ectopic pregnancy is usually light vaginal bleeding. This is often accompanied by pelvic pain.

How long can an ectopic pregnancy go unnoticed?

Symptoms most commonly appear between 6 and 8 weeks of pregnancy. By around a mother’s third or fourth prenatal visit, her healthcare provider should be able to recognize the signs of an ectopic pregnancy through an abnormal ultrasound, and from there they should require the mother take either a blood test or a urine test to confirm.

Can a baby survive an ectopic pregnancy?

No. Ectopic pregnancies are non-viable, meaning the fetus doesn’t have any chance of survival. A woman’s fallopian tubes are not built to withstand the demands of pregnancy. So even though the fertilized egg will continue to grow, it must be removed before it causes the fallopian tube (or another organ such as the ovary) to rupture.

Can an ectopic pregnancy be detected by a pregnancy test?

When a woman has an ectopic pregnancy, the pregnancy test will read positive. However, a pregnancy test can’t discern whether a mother’s pregnancy is ectopic or regular. The only way to know for sure is with medical testing, such as a blood test, urine test, or an ultrasound during a prenatal checkup.

A mother’s injuries sustained from an ectopic pregnancy are sometimes preventable with the proper medical treatment. If someone believes medical negligence contributed to their pregnancy injury, legal support may be an option. A specialized birth injury attorney can review the medical records and circumstances to assess whether a claim exists.

Families and victims of mismanaged pregnancy complications deserve to know whether the injuries resulting from it were preventable. Our dedicated birth injury lawyers want to help you find those answers and obtain the funds necessary to purchase devices that can help improve the quality of your child's life.

If you or someone you know was injured after a medical procedure and you suspect it may have been caused in part by medical mistakes, Miller Weisbrod Olesky will thoroughly investigate the facts and hold responsible medical providers accountable by pursuing medical malpractice claims against them.

Sometimes families are hesitant to reach out to a medical malpractice attorney or law firm. Parents may feel overwhelmed by their circumstances or are worried that a law firm will not be able to help them. But the only way to find out if you have a case is to talk to an attorney who understands how birth injuries can lead to developmental delays and other birth complications that require long-lasting medical support.

A statute of limitations (SOL) is a law that sets a time limit on how long an injured person has to file a lawsuit after an accident. It is essential to understand that statutes of limitations vary based on the type of case and the state where it is filed. For instance, the deadline for birth injury claims is typically different from other claims, such as injury to personal property, fraud, contract disputes, and collection of debts.

Generally, the clock starts ticking on the date the injury occurred. However, there are exceptions to this rule, and in some cases, the statute of limitations starts when a person discovers or reasonably should have discovered an injury. When dealing with government agencies, SOLs can become even more complex.

For example, if the party that injured you was:

• A federal employee
• Employed by a military hospital, Veterans Administration facility, or a federally funded medical entity

You may need to file a birth injury claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). In FTCA cases, claimants must go through certain administrative procedures before filing a lawsuit. In some states, if the negligent party was a local or state government hospital or the doctors and medical providers are employees of a governmental entity, the time period in which you must give "notice" may be shorter.

If your case is filed outside of the statute of limitations, it will typically be dismissed, and you will not be eligible to recover compensation for your injuries. Determining when a statute of limitations begins on your case can be tricky. If you're considering pursuing compensation for a birth injury, contacting an attorney as soon as possible is in your best interest.

It takes a detailed expert review of the facts and circumstances of a woman’s pregnancy to determine whether the injuries or complications from her ectopic pregnancy stemmed from medical malpractice.

At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a team of specialized attorneys, nurses and paraprofessionals uses our detailed medical negligence case review process to assess your potential birth injury case. We start by learning more about you and your story. Then we gather medical records to determine what happened before, during, and after your injuries. We call in skilled medical experts who review your records and let us know if they think medical errors could have caused your injuries.

If we feel medical negligence caused or contributed to your injuries, we meet with you to discuss how you can receive compensation from the medical professionals who made the errors.

At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we can begin investigating your case and gathering the evidence needed to support your claim.

We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won't pay any legal fees unless we win your case. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation by calling our toll-free line at 888-987-0005 or by filling out our online request form.